Running on Empty
by GCatsPjs
Summary: In heels and a dress. In the relentless, punishing rain. Alone. She began to run.
1. She Began to Run

She sat across from the man, his eyes were kind, his words were filled with humor, and his charm was doting and real. He reached across the table for her hands, and politely she let him hold them in his. He let her hands rest firmly in his, his thumbs rolling rhythmically on her skin, and he imagined for a moment that it was an unconscious thought of what he wished he could be doing to her entire body. For some reason, that thought made her stomach churn just a bit, and she thought of excusing herself, she thought of running, but stood fast knowing that she couldn't run, there was far too much riding on this, not for herself but for her partner and best friend. If she did something to ruin his career by walking out on Andrew right now, she would never forgive herself.

Her eyes flashed to the raindrops slamming into the windows outside, the wind blowing the trees angrily outside the window. It was a miserable night, and in her heart, though she was trying to be positive, she felt like letting her tears fall like the rain that was beating down on everything outside, and she wasn't exactly sure why. She heard him say her name again, and his eyes held a genuine concern.

"Temperance, are you alright?" He asked, sincerely.

"Honestly, No. No I'm not," she said softly.

"Is there anything that I can do to make you feel better?" He whispered, pulling her hands tighter into his, he felt a bit of resistance and knew that her mind was still elsewhere.

"I'm just… I'm not feeling well," she replied. "Andrew, I am sorry. I believe that I've been misleading you."

"I don't understand," his voice was genuinely confused.

"I really don't think that I am ready for a relationship right now," she whispered. "I don't want to mislead you any longer. Initially, I accepted your invitation to dinner, and was under the impression that it would give me an opportunity to release some of the pent up… feelings that I've had recently. Unfortunately, through observation and knowledge that I am…"

"So you're breaking up with me?" He asked, his head tilting in a question that she wasn't exactly sure how to say without sounding cold.

"I am sorry, Andrew." She whispered, noting just a flash of hurt, she felt something stirring within her that was making her feel increasingly uncomfortable. She had felt this feeling before, and she tried to work through her mind quickly to determine when the last time she had it, realizing immediately that it wasn't regret. "I… if…you'll excuse me." She whispered softly, moving to pull her chair out, she noticed him trying to stand up to help her from her chair, she became increasingly flustered, she waved his hand from her and stood carefully, leaning down a bit, she looked him in the eyes. "I apologize if my leaving causes you to dislike me, or to wish ill upon me, but please… I ask of you… and if there is anything I can do to ensure this, I will surely do it."

"What is it, Temperance?"

"Please don't hold this against Booth." She whispered. "He's a good man, a hard worker… a father, and an incredibly good friend. I don't want to think that something that I did would cause him any pain, or an issue with his career." She whispered.

Andrew bit his tongue, feeling more and more like the fool as he sat at the table, now alone with his date leaning against the table unwittingly making overtures about another man. He could see the concern in her eyes, and cared enough about her to not wish her any harm. "Does he have anything to do with your decision?" Andrew asked.

"No." She replied, her voice was filled with emotion, and her eyes were still searching his as she waited for him to simply respond that Booth's career would be safe. "Andrew, please tell me that you will not take this out on him." She whispered. "He respects you." She had to bite her own tongue at that blatant lie, for she knew what Booth really thought of the Deputy Director, though he would never, ever voice it to anyone but her, she knew that despite his feelings, Booth would never show disrespect to him.

Andrew stared into Temperance's crystal blue eyes for a moment, trying to keep himself under control, when he saw movement out of the corner of his eye and heard a very familiar voice. Not four tables away from them, the very focus of his and Temperance's conversation was being seated by the hostess. On his arm was a strikingly beautiful woman who looked almost familiar. Dark hair and blue eyes, he had never met her before, nor had he heard Booth speak of her, he watched Booth take her hand as he helped her to her chair, and Andrew's eyes moved back to Temperance. "I won't take it out on Booth." He replied coldly, watching Temperance physically relax at his words. "I won't take it out on him, it wouldn't be right."

"Thank you, Andrew." She whispered.

"Wait, Temperance… how are you getting home?" He asked curiously, watching her fingers as they fiddled on her purse, she watched as he started to get up.

"No." She shook her head. "No, it's alright, I'll just take a cab home, it'll be fine. You've been the perfect gentleman, and I don't want to take any more of your time… just stay, I can… cover your meal or whatever you like. I just… I'm sorry…" She whispered as she turned, flustered and upset, she turned and rushed toward the door of the restaurant. Without thought or consequence, she pushed past several people who were moving around a table several feet away, and for a split second swore she had heard someone call out to her. She was far too upset to turn to see if it were true, and she was far too flustered to even realize that it wasn't her given name that they called out, but a clear and solid name of 'Bones' that had slipped past someone's lips that she hadn't noticed. It was a name that was so familiar and so accepted that upon hearing it, her pace never slowed, for that name to her was just as commonplace as her given name.

She stalked out into the vestibule, and through the doors without thinking, her emotions giving her the only strength that she had as she was suddenly pelted with the hard, merciless rain that was pouring from the sky. She held her purse in her hand, and though she could very well reach into the depths of it and pull out her phone and call a cab, the rational thing. Instead, she did something that even she didn't expect, something irrational and stupid, something surprising and different, something freeing.

In heels and a dress.

In the unrelenting, punishing rain.

Alone.

She began to run.


	2. Then He Ran After Her

He stepped out of the door of the restaurant, the wind pushing the falling rain into his face as he looked to his left and his right. She was gone, nowhere in sight did he see the blur of cobalt that he had seen moments earlier flash past him and everyone else in the restaurant to escape into the cold of the outside. When he had seen her run past, he had called to her with no reaction, her name had been loud and abrupt on the tip of his tongue as he looked to the woman sitting across from him at the table. Without a word he looked to the woman across from him, and thought for a moment that she could read the look on his face. He thought that she could see the fear, the confusion, the guilt. He thought that when he glanced over to where his partner had flown from, that she could see the rage that was suddenly boiling within him. He thought incorrectly, that she could read his face, because when he had pushed his chair out from beneath him and nearly knocked over a waiter, she had called out his name in an obviously appalled manner.

When his eyes hit this woman across from him, that next moment, he could see that she had no clue as to why he had shouted 'Bones' in the crowded restaurant, after a fleeing woman who she hadn't even recognized as the woman that she had met and talked to only two days earlier. His partner, a fellow doctor, the smartest, most logical, most beautiful woman he had ever met, and the least likeliest person to be seen running from a restaurant with red rimmed eyes and a tremble that could shake the earth if she stopped for a moment to steady herself. He was out of his chair as soon as her hand hit the handle on the door, and without an apology or an excuse, he had followed her path most definitively, slamming his hand into the metal bar that opened to the outside, his feet slapping against the puddle pavement as he found himself drenched in the cold spring rain. His head once again moved from left to right, hoping to just get a glimpse of blue, a clue as to where she had disappeared to.

A moment, and there was a man at his side. Valet for the restaurant, telling him that it would be alright if he waited in the restaurant, asking for his car's ticket. Booth though, stared at him blankly, his lips cold and wet from the rain, his breathing full of panic as he practically grabbed the young man by his arm. "A woman." He said, desperately, panicking. "A woman just came running out of here a moment ago, did you see her?"

"A woman?"

"Yes, a woman in a blue dress… blue dress." He had to stop himself from describing her completely, for he knew that if he began a description of his partner, he would go on for much longer than he would have intended, and at this point, any indication as to the direction she had taken would be fine. "A blue dress… I am serious, tell me which way she went!" He exclaimed, his hand tightening on the man's hand in a vice grip as he tried pulling his arm away in fear.

"That way, she just… took off running down the street." He said, waiting for the apology from the distraught man before him, or at least acknowledgement that he had given him help. Instead, he was pushed to the side as the man ran blindly down the street after the woman in the blue dress, his own suit and body soaking in the cold downpour.

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Temperance could feel her ankles popping at each step, her eyes focused on nothing but the sidewalk as she allowed her shoes to slip from her feet. She found that barefoot, she could make it farther, her strides became longer, and the cold rain didn't seem nearly so cold as she felt hot tears making their way down her cheeks. The farther she ran, the harder she ran, and the harder she ran, the harder the rain slammed against her body. She could feel her feet hitting the puddles on the sidewalk, the asphalt on the street, the stones and glass that had fallen to the ground pushing into her flesh as her feet pounded into the pavement. The pain and cold were the last thing that she was concerned about. She didn't even know what she cared about at this point. All she knew was that she was running, running from something she didn't even know she was running from, in a direction that she had no idea where it would lead.

Her lungs were burning from the exertion, and her skin was cold and soaked, her dress was torn and tattered, the scarf that once hung delicately on her neck dangled from her arm precariously as she rounded a corner, her back slamming against the brick building, her breathing labored, her heart pounding, the tears rolling from her cheeks as she bent at the waist for a moment.

Her knees were giving out on her as she fell backwards against the building, the slamming of her back against the hard brick surface rid her body of what breath it had left, and she let out a yelp of pain with what remaining strength she had, and she was thankful in that moment that there was no one witnessing this moment of weakness, this moment where she was giving in to every emotion, every feeling, every broken piece of her heart that had ever been chipped away.

She gave in and gave out, her mind was willing her body to break down and break apart, and for this she had no reason, no logical reason. She lifted her eyes to the sky and allowed the rain to fall on her face as she begged for the drops to lodge in her throat and drown her in her own self pity, her eyes blurred by the pouring rain, she had no idea how long she had been sitting against that building, but her eyes were focused on the bright street light above her, shining down on her as she listened to the cars rush by. Then, as if some cosmic alternate reality had taken over her, her nightmares came true, the light above her was blocked by the body of someone standing above her, and the name from his lips was hers, it was the name he had given her, and it was that moment that she had completely given in to the cold and the pain. The face she was staring into was replaced by blackness, and then came the release that she so desperately begged for, as her body fell to the pavement, lifeless.

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**THANK YOU EVERYONE for such a warm welcome of this story! :) All of the alerts have overwhelmed me! I appreciate your comments, and hope that this fic can live up to your expectations as well! I haven't forgotten about the other two fics, and I have no intention on letting letting any of these three go to the way side... so don't worry about that! I just have a lot of ideas that don't fit in with the storylines of those two stories! :) I hope you enjoy this one as well... I have nothing definitive planned for this fic, as is with Silent Mistakes... so we'll see where this story takes us (because your guess is as good as mine) :) I hope you enjoy, and i'm looking forward to your comments! -- Colleen.**


	3. Somehow, He Caught Up With Her

Words of friends echoed through the hollow pain, the sting of uncertainty lie deep within her soul, and for a moment she just melted into their words, melted into their echoes. The voices of friends and the fears of her own mind moved together into a constantly moving machine that she had called life. Peer pressure was not something she would readily admit to having been victim to, but on more than one occasion she had let herself experience the thrill of clubbing, or the anonymity of a one night stand.

She was a strong willed, beautiful, extremely intelligent woman. She knew how the world worked, that it turned on its axis and the sun rose, the sun set. She knew that with every life came death, she knew that with every up, there was a down. She was very aware of gravity and physics and the physical side of most everything. She had felt love in its raw form as a child, her parents loved her… it was not an unfamiliar feeling, but it was a long time ago feeling. It was something that she had closed herself off from completely, creating this shell of a person, larger than life with an IQ that made her spout off facts at will, and a misguided and misdirected love of life and death in forms that the common man would think morbid or odd.

Temperance Brennan was by no means a strong woman, but Doctor Temperance Brennan… she could move mountains with her mind, and of course she'd remind you that she speaks only of metaphorical mountains, of course. Deep within her subconscious the only thing she could do was remember the words of her friends, of her coworkers, and know that those were the words that brought her here to this moment, to this breakdown of emotion and emotional attack.

She had spent every day from the moment her parents left her carefully, intricately, and as she would remind you, metaphorically building walls around herself. The bricks were the moments that she had encountered as an orphan, as a foster child, as an abandoned sibling, as an abused child, as an outcast, as a genius, as a social reject, as a frightened child, those were the bricks. The mortar was made from the fears and the thoughts and the feelings of inadequacy, mental inferiority, social inferiority, bullying, name calling. The mortar was strong and thick and held those walls together so securely, so tightly that it would take nothing short of a miracle to climb those walls, to penetrate those walls, to crumble those walls.

Upon adulthood, there were moments where she thought that the wall could only become higher. The day she had met Seeley Booth was one of those moments. He was cocky and arrogant, self assured, and if she knocked one of those bricks from the wall, she'd even say he was attractive. Smarter than he let on, he had the self absorption of Narcissus. She kept that wall high and strong during that case, and though there had been that one moment where she thought he could scale his way up, she turned her back and allowed the wall to surround him, taking him down a peg or two in the process.

She settled into herself, her fortress around her as she completed her first book, allowing for the first time in a very long time, to put herself out there in the world for those in the world that didn't know her to glimpse into who she was through her words.

She refused to allow people say that the words in her book had meaning, but they knew the truth that she knew. Her writing was an extension of herself, and though she would deny it wholeheartedly, it also held her deepest desires.

The wall was high and strong, and though she allowed Angela to peek into who she was, even her best friend was held at arms length. There was no way to make the way through that wall. That was what she believed, that is what she thought was true.

That was before Seeley Booth.

He was no doctor. He wasn't a genius, though he spoke the language of the heart, a language that she had never quite understood. He wasn't what she expected, that much she knew. She thought about her walls, about the lengths that he always went to prove her wrong about him. She thought about how he challenged her, how he fought her, how he hated being bested, but hated being the one to win. He never wanted more, just wanted to be her equal, and she would laugh at her mind when the thought would slide across it that he must have been a stone mason in another life because he knew how to use that hammer and chisel on her walls. The man was an artist when it came to those walls. He could chip and chisel and create some of the most beautiful artwork with what he found beneath. He let in warmth, and humor, and laughter, and took the fear and expelled it out of that mortar as if he alone could scare it away, he alone could make her fears and her sadness and her broken hearted abandoned feeling disappear.

He had vowed to kill for her

He had vowed to die for her

A man who had done both for her at one time or another, a man who had saved her life not only literally but figuratively time and time again, a man that she felt was unattainable in the most painful way possible.

He was her best friend, the person who she could tell anything to, and felt that he could tell her anything in return. He was her muse… the object of her most vivid scenes in her writing, though she'd never admit it. He was her heart. When she thought she couldn't feel, or didn't know if her feelings were correct, he was the one that would know. He was the one who had the heart between the two of them, he was the one that knew what to do in 'human' situations, in real world scenarios. He was the reason she ran.

She had run?

What had she done? Where was she?

Her mind whispered to her heart to keep beating, and she heard it. It was a constant beeping sound, her heart… it sounded like a machine.

She wasn't surprised… she had always felt like a robot, why wouldn't her heart sound like a machine? Why had she run? Who was she running from? Where was she?

Deep breaths. Deep breaths, and a voice that wasn't her own. Calling her name.

"Bones?"

That was not her voice, and that was not her mind, and the beeping was not hear heartbeat, not the heartbeat in her chest, but the one on a machine attached to her.

"Come on, Bones. Wake up… I know you're in there."

That was his voice… her hand was warm.

"I can see your eyes moving, Bones… you're dreaming… wake up for me."

Oh God, no.

She had run, and somehow he had caught up to her.

How did he find her?

And now what was she going to do?


	4. He Waited For her to Awaken

Sitting at her bedside holding her hand, he stared at her closed eyes for hours. He spoke soft words of encouragement, holding her hand that until recently was so cold that he felt no life within its veins. If he closed his eyes, even to blink, all he saw were her blue, shivering lips and those stark blue eyes staring up at him filled with terror. She hadn't recognized him, hadn't expected him, and in a split second, she was out. His heart dropped out of his body at that moment, his stomach pitted and twisted, and he spoke her name as he knelt down beside her, almost to the point of shaking her.

Her body had gone limp, her vitals were weak, and without a second thought, he pulled her into his arms and ran down the street toward a gas station that was open, the lights glowing in the distance as Booth slammed his back into the door and carried her into the warmer air of the convenience store, shouting for someone to call for an ambulance, trying in vain to warm her, begging the staff of the convenient store for something to keep her warm, paper towels, a jacket or something, anything… for his body was just as soaked as hers, and he was in no position to warm her.

The next hour or so was a complete blur, filled with sirens and running, a lot of running and shouting. He remembered shouting a lot… shouting at the medics, shouting at the doctors, shouting at the nurses… and the one calm was the phone call that he knew he needed to make… the apology over the phone that was tired and weak, but sincere, and the sound the phone made when she hung up on him was just a whisper compared to the screams that were filling his brain at the moment. The screams of alarm that something had caused this breakdown of his partner, something had caused her to take off into the rain, and that same something caused her to collapse, a broken woman lying on the ground in a tattered evening gown, her shoes long since discarded and her feet battered and torn. Something had caused this and he wish he knew how to ask her, he wish he knew where to start. He wished that she would just wake up.

He had flashed his badge to anyone who walked into the room and dared tell him to leave. He had gotten phone calls from Angela, Cam, Hodgins, Sweets… all of whom had been denied entrance to her room, and the one person who could have access would be Max, and he was out of town with Russ' family.

Her hand was warming up, her body temperature slowly rising, and he could see the fluttering of her eyelids, her eyes moving rapidly beneath the tender skin, yet there was no opening of them just yet, and he waited patiently, tirelessly, filled with hope and fear and something of a bit of a stomachache from all of the worrying.

He tried to recall their last conversation, a quick phone call at the end of the day to compare the happenings of the afternoon before the weekend, a close to a week with no case, and random friendly meetings at the diner or at the bar. She had told him that she had dinner plans with Andrew, and he had told her of his date plans as well. The conversation had been friendly until the point that they said goodbye. He recalled hundreds of phone calls with her in the past that had begun a weekend, and never had their wishing of a good weekend felt so strained.

He had attributed the strain to the nervousness of having different plans for the weekend than usual, for not knowing what to say about the other's date, and with a 'see ya Monday, Bones', he had hung up the phone. He remembered staring at it for a moment, thinking that he'd rather see her face when he said goodbye for the weekend, and pushed those thoughts aside as he prepared to go home and get ready for his date.

So he sat and he waited, and he prayed. He knew that the only person that knew what was going through Temperance Brennan's head was sleeping soundly in the bed beside him, dreaming of what she was dreaming as he waited her out. He needed to wait her out.

The nurse stepped into the room, his eyes lifted to her face, and she gave him a smile with so much pity, that he almost felt sorry for himself. "She still hasn't woken up," he whispered.

"She was very dehydrated, Mr. Booth. Her body was absolutely exhausted, her core body temperature was very low. Let her take her time… she'll come around." She said, moving to the end of the bed, she carefully pulled the blankets from her feet, and Booth watched her face as it very subtly cringed at what she was looking at.

"How bad are her…?" He asked, noticing the blood on the bandages as she slowly peeled them away, he was beginning to feel sick to his stomach.

"She tore her feet up pretty badly, we were able to get most of the debris removed, and she just has to keep them bandaged to ensure they don't get infected.

"So she's just not waking up because she's exhausted?" He asked. The nurse could tell that he was so worried about his friend, and didn't want to make him worry more. He was rubbing the young woman's hand so delicately, and his eyes were so full of fear.

"That's right." She nodded, giving him a tender smile. "When she is ready to face all of this… she'll wake up."

The nurse's words were meant to be hopeful, and even as she left, they hung in the air.

When she is ready to face all of this?

What did that mean? What is 'all of this'? Was that what she was running from? Was she running from all of this?

His phone rang and he lifted it to his ear, silencing it before a nurse came in to yell at him for having it in the room. "Hey." He said into the line.

"How is she?" Angela's voice was full of fear.

"She still hasn't woken up." He whispered.

"She'll come around, Booth." Angela whispered, keeping him on the line for several moments of silence, until she heard a noise, a shuffle on the phone.

"I have to go." His voice was rushed. "She's waking up."

The phone went dead.


	5. And She Woke

**Okay... for those of you who got the note that there was a chapter five... it was not a figment of your imagination... I had written a Chapter five... Since then... I decided that it didn't fit into the storyline I was hoping to convey, so I retracted it... So... those of you that read it, got a little bonus chapter... but this... this is how I had originally intended Chapter Five to go... Enjoy :)**

Chapter 5-

Vivid flashes of light were the first thing she was aware of, and a sharp pain moving up her leg. Eyelids flutter and his face appears, but not like in the dreams she had been having, not peaceful and clear. His face is there, but it's full of fear, wrinkles line his forehead, pain is in his eyes, and the pain is unbearable as she becomes aware of it.

Her eyes squeeze tightly and her teeth grind together as she tries to pull herself out of the bed. She needs to keep running. She needs to escape, and seeing him, knowing that he is why she is running, makes her want to run even more. Every conscious thought in her mind is gone, the only thing remaining is the need to escape, her hand moving to the needle that was puncturing her arm, a warm hand covering hers, stopping her.

Every muscle in her body aches, every bone is sore, and when she attempts to move her feet, she finds that they feel stiff and sore, wrapped in something soft that was pressing against the wounds, she tries to slide her foot to the edge of the bed, a warm hand pushing it back into place, and a soft voice echoed in the distance as she not only heard the ringing in her ears, but felt it vibrating her brain, a sharp high pitched sound invades her mind, and she turns her face away from the low voice that is so close to her face that she can feel the warm breath. Her name slides through the cloudiness, and not her given name, but her nickname, and she tries to calm her heartbeat that is pounding in her chest and in her ears.

"Bones?"

He said it again, and she thinks for a moment if she keeps her eyes closed that he'll just go away, that he'll walk away like everyone else, leave her in her self pitying moment. She has questions, but their answers are something that anyone can handle, anyone can answer her questions.

She knows that he won't leave, he knows she's waking up, and with that, he most definitely will not leave. He won't leave her room, won't leave her side, and for that she wasn't sure if she should be grateful or hateful. Grateful for having such a good friend as her partner, but hateful in knowing that she just can't feel sorry for herself right now. She tries to think for a moment about how it had happened, what he looked like in the shadow. He was dressed up, probably on his date.

Was he there? Did he see her run?

She could feel his hand return to hers, his voice was soft and beckoning to her. It was not coddling, it was stern, and to the point of almost being demanding. She couldn't bring herself to open her eyes however, she couldn't bring herself to do it, she couldn't bring herself to break like that, not in front of him. She could feel the sob in the back of her throat, her cheeks burning from the warmth of the room and from the embarrassment she felt, though she wasn't sure which was worse, the embarrassment or the actual physical pain of what had happened.

She had assumed that they would only allow family into the room, since Booth's voice was the only one she heard. She knew her father was out of town, her brother as well, and that Booth was her medical proxy, and very often used his badge to get what he wanted when it came to her health and safety. This wouldn't be the first time he had forced himself into a hospital room where she was staying, and she wasn't surprised that he refused to leave. He didn't know why she ran, he didn't know what was happening, what she was thinking, where she was going. For all he knew, she was running from someone and not some invisible feeling that was eating away at her. He didn't know that it was the rain that made her run, it was the constant slamming of the water from the sky that simply reminded her that she was just this small being in such a large place, and that she certainly didn't feel worthy of the air she was breathing, or the strength she was given. She had stepped out into the rain and wished that it could just melt her away.

She didn't know when she had started to feel this way, perhaps it all started when Booth found out he had a brain tumor. That tiny little bundle of cells in her partner's brain had been removed, and though it was touch and go for a while, four long days, in fact… he woke up. He woke up, and she was elated, beyond elated that he had woken up, for she knew for a fact that she would be missing a piece of herself without him in her life. But an experience like that will change a person, and not just the person with the tumor the size of a melon ball in their head, but for the person that was watching over them, the person that was staying with him, holding his hand, watching him… the person that was secretly praying for him, not because she actually believed in prayer, but because she believed in him, and he believed in prayer, and she knew that if it were her lying on that operating table, if it had been her lying in that bed, if it had been her that had been seeing hallucinations and exhibiting these symptoms… he would have prayed for her. So she prayed for him… and he woke up.

He woke up, and she could see that physically he was the same man, physically he had not changed one bit, but for the tiny patch of shaved hair and the bandage around his head. He was still the same man who had gone under that anesthesia. But emotionally, mentally, even rhythmically, he was different. He was quieter, unsure… he seemed to have obtained a permanent crease in his brow that was due to his constant state of questioning himself, questioning his motives, questioning his thoughts, his beliefs. She found herself caring for him more and more each day, teaching him, learning from him, spending evenings with him on the telephone telling him things about him. She could remember one day when he just stopped her mid explanation and his eyes were full of an innocent wonder as he spoke.

How do you know so much about me?

How did she know so much about him? She spent time with him, talked to him, listened to him, sat with him, drank with him, ate with him. By every possible definition of 'relationship', they were in it. There were glances, smiles, touches, long stares, and even toasts of love's admission. There were moments of confusion and found pride, there were just these things that if she just let herself imagine were true, she could believe it.

But it wasn't true.

She was alone.

Never alone physically, ever. She always had him to hold her hand or lead her through doorways. She always had him to offer some sort of physical support to her, and sex? Sex wasn't what she wanted, not completely at least. Sex would be nice… but only in an ultimate culmination of feelings and pleasure, only if it were cosmic and life altering, only if it were worth the risk.

But emotionally?

Emotionally, she had no one. Emotionally she was on a raft floating in the middle of the ocean with her fingers covering a hole that would deflate. Emotionally, she was losing her grip on that tiny hole becoming more and more tired with each passing moment and that moment with Andrew, that moment that she stepped out into that pouring rain, that was the moment that her finger moved from that hole, and the rain was like a dagger stabbing the raft, tearing the hole bigger until she finally just sank into the ocean, sank into the ocean and began to drown. Just like she wished the rain would do to her, she began to drown in an emotional ocean, only to be pulled to safety by him… the man who stood above her holding her hand with so much love that it was killing her. Because he didn't really love her, not the way she wanted to be loved and it had become too much, too much for her to take.

Her eyes opened briefly.

Her mouth opened as his eyes lit up, and she remembered that day that he woke from his coma, when he moved. She could feel the smile on her lips, feel the hope in her chest and when she looked into his eyes, she could see it. She could see that same hope, the fear quickly swept away with the opening of her eyes.

"Bones." His voice was full of emotion, and all she wanted to do was reach out and tell him that she was sorry. She was sorry for making him worry, sorry for dragging her down like this. This was supposed to be her moment of pain alone, and somehow he had been pulled with her, somehow he had ended up sitting above her, looking exhausted and broken, and waiting. He was waiting for something. "Bones… hey…" He whispered, his hand running over her red, blotchy cheeks, her hair still damp from the rain, her eyes cloudy with sleep.

She opened her mouth, the words on the tip of her tongue as she closed her eyes again tightly, tears escaping at the corners. "Go home." She whispered with a raspy voice, a gasp. "Go home, Booth." She whispered, as she rolled onto her side, turning her back on him, saving herself from the broken look on his face as she began to cry silent tears into herself.


	6. And He Asked Her Why She Ran

"No."

His voice was strong and firm, and it was almost as if he were refusing any reply at all. How dare he say no to her? How dare he deny the privacy that she was asking, begging for? How dare he sit above her, having not be asked to be there in the first place and tell her that no… he would not respect her wishes.

"I am not going anywhere." He replied.

"Go home." She whispered, staring at the wall, she felt a hand on her shoulder, tugging at her. It was insistent and firm, and she knew she couldn't get away from this, she knew he wouldn't just leave, she wasn't even sure that she should have said anything. She just lay there, wishing she had kept her eyes closed, but she had hoped, just hoped that he would leave if she told him to, leave and go home, get some sleep, leave her to feel sorry for herself, alone.

"Don't." He said, as if there was more that she wanted to say, but was holding back. "Don't you dare pull away from me." He whispered.

"I didn't ask you to be here."

"You don't have to ask me."

"I don't want you to be here."

"You don't have to want me to be here."

"Go."

"No."

There was silence for a long time, and she still felt his hand on her arm. She wanted to pull away from it, but there was just something about the way he touched her that made her feel mildly connected, connected to something. And if she was going to be connected to something, it may as well be him. So she lay there for a long time, his hand resting on her arm as she imagined him leaving. She imagined herself alone in that room, but she knew that it wouldn't happen. She knew the next question on his lips, and it was rolling around in her own head as well. She knew the answer, and she also knew that she couldn't tell him. She just waited for him to ask.

"Why, Bones?"

She wanted to ask him the same question. Though her question was not for an answer as to why she had taken off in the pouring rain discarding her shoes and her sanity. Her question for him, was… why did he care? Why was he still there? Why did he stay with her? Why won't he see that she just wants to be alone? Why won't he leave? Why did she have to fall in love with him? Why did he make her fall in love with him? Why? It was the question of the moment, and she wouldn't answer, nor would she ask.

His hand slid down her arm, sliding down to her hand, where he gripped her fingers. She knew that he expected her to pull away, but she gave him the courtesy of allowing his fingers to enter her hand, and she allowed them to entwine with hers. It was a simple gesture, but she knew that he was aware that it was progress.

He cleared his throat.

Was he crying?

She wasn't going to roll over to find out. She refused to roll over to see if she had hurt him. It would be way too much knowing that she had caused him pain, though she wasn't stupid enough to think that she hadn't. He wouldn't cry though, no… he was strong. He was strong, not like her… she was weak. She was weak and broken, and he was just waiting.

"Please, Bones."

Begging, now he was begging? He was playing dirty… his voice was penetrating her guard… piercing her heart with the sadness.

Stop.

Deep breath.

"I need you to talk to me. Temperance."

Definitely playing dirty.

"Booth." She whispered.

"Tell me one thing, Bones." He whispered. She waited, and he took a slow, deep breath. She could hear the tension in his voice in the next words, and he was praying for her to turn to look at him. "Did Hacker do this?" He whispered.

She rolled immediately onto her back, her brow furrowed. "No." She shook her head. "No. I did this." She whispered. "This is me, just me… no one else. I did this." She sniffled.

"Why?"

"Please go home." She whispered.

"Stop saying that." He replied. "You're lying here, hurt… hurting… and you're telling me that you did this to yourself, and you just want me to go home?"

"Yes."

"I'm not going to do that."

"I don't even know why you're here."

"I saw you run, Bones. I saw you leave, you looked upset. You looked like someone had said something to you, done something to you. I was in the restaurant."

"I made a fool of myself."

"What were you running from, Bones. What were you running from if you weren't running from Hacker?"

She was silent again. He wasn't going to go away. Even if she had him removed from the room, he'd find a way, he always did. He just wanted his answer.

"Andrew."

"So he did do something?" Booth said angrily.

"No, Booth." She whispered, looking up at him, their eyes finally met. "Andrew wasn't the person that I wanted to be with. He was nice, he was funny… but something was missing, something very important was missing, and I was just… I had a moment of panic."

"That was more than panic, Bones."

"I had a moment of insanity." She whispered, her eyes moving from his as he leaned down and touched his forehead to hers.

"Temperance Brennan doesn't have moments of insanity."

"She does when she is lost." She whispered.

"But I found you." He said, his fingertips carefully running over her skin, pushing the hair of her temple back, the dampness was a reminder of the rain that had consumed her. "I found you, Bones… I'm not leaving you."

"What about your date?"

"It was over before it began."

"Why?"

"Because she wasn't who I wanted to be with tonight." He whispered, watching her blink at him. "Get some sleep, Bones… they're going to want to do a psych evaluation on you in the morning before they decide if they can release you or not. Cam is going to want to talk to you, Sweets… you're going to have to do a lot of explaining… and I'll try to hold them off as best as I can, but you… you're the only one that knows what's going on in here." He whispered, tapping lightly on her head. "You're the only one that knows… get some sleep."

"You're not going to leave?" She whispered.

"Not unless you ask me." He whispered.

There was a pause, and a moment of understanding.

"Please don't leave."

"I'm not going anywhere." He whispered, kissing her forehead softly, he watched her close her eyes again. "Sweet dreams, Bones."


	7. She Thought She Was Running From Him

Again, the sounds were the first thing she noticed when she slipped into consciousness. There was the very dull sound of the heart monitor, the sounds of the nurses checking her vitals, the sound of the feet walking around the room, the sound of the curtain being pulled back into place, and of course, the sound of the snoring man who was leaning against her arm. She had heard at one point, the nurse asking him if he would like something more comfortable to sit on, and he had claimed he didn't. He said he wasn't very tired, but of course as soon as she had left, she could hear the chair shuffle closer to her bed.

It could have been getting lighter outside or not, or maybe it was still dark outside, but she felt his head rest on the sheets for a moment, his hand in hers as he settled his cheek against it. She could feel the light stubble on his skin, the 'weekend' look always worked for Booth, and she imagined that she might protest, if he had ever suggested facial hair. She liked his face the way it was, smooth and soft, and his smile was almost childlike, it made her feel younger and more alive, so she was very certain she would protest. She could feel her face scrunch up, as she tried to stop herself from thinking of him, but when he was this close, how could she not think of him.

He was wearing that cheap cologne that she had told him that she didn't like, the cologne that he never wore around her, but would use on odd occasions as if he were trying to get rid of it, or as she would tease him 'drive women away'. She sighed, maybe it was intentional, maybe not, but she sighed and thought of what had brought him here in the first place. He had seen her run. He had seen her in the restaurant and had seen her run.

She suddenly felt warmth in her cheeks.

Embarrassment? Why was she embarrassed? It had happened hours earlier, hours and yet… when she thought of him seeing her fleeing that restaurant, it made her feel embarrassed, mortified, so small and transparent. It wasn't for the hundred other people that were in the restaurant, only him… only he made her feel this way. She kept her eyes closed, and the movement near her hand was obviously the movement of someone who was awake. She tried to think if she had moved her hand, perhaps made him stir, but she remained absolutely still as he sat up, a rough and rattling sigh escaped his lips.

He sounded upset, angry perhaps? He was probably angry with her, and she was the only one to blame for it. It was her fault, and…

"Stop, Bones." His voice startled her. She didn't open her eyes, but she could feel his burning into her skin. He was watching her so intently, so intensely, it was almost as if he could see her battling in her mind. "Stop fighting with yourself." He said softly. "You are a very strong woman, but I don't think you are going to be able to just sweep this under the rug. You're going to have to deal with this, Bones… so just… stop. Just stop."

She remained still, not moving, barely breathing.

"I know you can hear me, you can hear me. You trust me."

_I trust him._

"It's not a question. I know it's true."

_I know._

"Even if you can't hear me… right now, I need to tell you. You need help, Bones… I want to help you."

_Does he know I'm awake?_

"You act like you don't know why I refused to leave you here. I understand that. It's not like I have ever told you how I feel about you..." His sigh was full of need. "Okay, so I told you… and I qualified it, because you got this… horrified look on your face when I told you the truth… God, I'm babbling." He whispered. "I love you, Temperance. We started out as partners, it turned into friendship, and somehow in the middle of the hunt for murderers, the discovery of lost family, and the celebratory drinks… Somewhere in the middle of all of that, I fell in love with you." His voice was so low, and so filled with emotion, and as she lay there listening to the sincerity in his words, she tried to determine whether or not he knew she was conscious, that she was awake, that she was listening to his words. She waited to see if there would be more, and he did not disappoint. After a moment, she felt soft fingertips rolling beneath the hair that had settled on her temple, pushing her hair from her face. "I know that you know the truth, you have to know the truth. There is no way that you are that socially inept, Bones… there's no way that you don't see it, don't feel it. You know that I would do anything for you, absolutely anything. I love you… and I'm stupid for not telling you." He whispered. She felt a very light, tender kiss on her forehead. "I just want to know why you did this, Bones. I just want to know why… I need to know why."

She moved slightly, wondering if he'd continue if he thought she was awake. He pulled his hand away from her slowly and watched her for a second. When she had run the night before, she thought she was running away from something. When he stopped speaking, knowing she was awake, she was sure that he was running too. However, what really happened was not what she expected, and when her eyes opened, his were there as if he were expecting it. The next moments were filled with something that she hadn't expected. He did something so irrational, something daring and exciting, something surprising and different, something freeing.

With his eyes on hers.

With her eyes on his.

Together.

He spoke.

"I love you."


	8. But Found That It Was Just The Opposite

As soon as the words left his lips, he noticed her body relax into the mattress. He thought for sure it would be a different reaction, a more visceral reaction of sinking into herself as quickly and as quietly as possible. Instead, she kept her eyes trained on his. He wasn't sure what to think, for she was silent and angelic, those blue eyes staring up at him like twin bodies of water, pristine and perfect reflecting his confession back to him.

"I know that you love me." She whispered back, she watched his eyes narrow slightly, and the set in his jaw. The very slight shake in his head told her that he was becoming upset. "What?"

"You hear me, Bones." He said, his voice an angry whisper. "You hear me, but you never listen to me."

"I don't understand."

"No… no, of course you understand. You're not an idiot, Bones." He said, breathing out of his nose, his breathing was more short puffs of hair as he tried to control the feeling wrenching in his stomach, the sick feeling in the back of his throat, the sharp pain that was stabbing his chest. "I don't love protecting you, Bones… I don't love… keeping you safe… I don't love those things… I do those things, because I love you." He whispered.

"Booth, I don't…"

"Bones, just shut up for a minute, will you?" He said, trying to keep his emotions in check, he could see that she was becoming upset. "I mean… I don't mean…" He whispered, trying to calm down. "I'm just… Bones…" he whispered, crouching beside the bed, he looked into her eyes and watched the confusion floating in those crystal blue pools. "Bones, I… want to be the only one to fall asleep next to you every night for the rest of my life… I want to wake up with you every morning. I want to argue with you about stupid things like who has to make the coffee in the morning, or find out the reason that I can't find my favorite socks is because you're wearing them. Bones, I love you… and there was a time when I wasn't sure that I could do this… tell you, because I wasn't even sure who I was… but I know who I am, and I'm only completely me… when I'm with you." He said, watching her mouth open. "I want those things, Bones. I want those things, and I've earned those things. They're tiny and insignificant, they're stupid, Bones… they're stupid little things, but calling you at the end of my weekend, and asking you how your weekend went… that should never, ever happen. It should never happen, and do you know why?"

"I know why." She whispered.

"Why? Bones? Tell me why… please tell me that you understand what I'm trying to say." He said, watching her eyes explore his face, his hands settled on the bed, and her hand reached out and touched them, making that connection. "Tell me Bones."

"You don't want… you don't think… you want to have to ask me how my weekend was, because you want to be there." She whispered.

"Yes!" He exclaimed, realizing how loud he was being in a hospital room, he immediately lowered his voice. "Yes, Bones." He whispered. "That's right, that's right… and it might be such a cheesy and stupid…" His words were interrupted by her hand covering his mouth, and he didn't say another word.

"Do you think this is the appropriate place… time… to be confessing all of this to me?"

"There isn't anywhere in this world, Bones… that I would rather be after what happened tonight. Tonight… last night, whatever… it should never have happened." He said, frustrated with himself.

"I was the one that…"

"I'm not talking about that, Bones." He whispered. "I'm talking about my date… my date, and your date… and how we just took all of our pent up emotions and feelings and instead of aiming our affections and attentions to one another, we aimed at different people." He sighed. "The woman I was having dinner with… she wasn't the run of the mill 'Booth's type'… she wasn't blonde and brash… she had dark hair, Bones… Dark hair and blue eyes, and she was intelligent and witty, and… she laughed at my jokes… but she wasn't you, she wasn't even close to you… I mean… you know when you go to the store, and you see those little doll figures… and they look like Barbie, and they have the same hair as Barbie, and a car like Barbie… but when you get close to them, take them out of the box, they are just a cheap replica? They smell like plastic, and they fall apart and…" He continued, until he realized she had a hint of a smile on her face. "What, Bones? What is it?"

"I don't know… what I should be more offended about… that you're comparing me to a Barbie doll… or that… you actually know how to compare someone to a Barbie doll." She said, watching his eyes lighten up as he realized she really was listening to him, she was hearing everything he had to say, and though it was a joke that she was making, and they were in a situation that was far from their normal situation, it was a taste of normalcy, and for that he was grateful.

"The point is, Bones… I was getting ready for a date with her, and all I could think about was how I wanted to call you and tell you about Parker's three goals at soccer practice that he called to tell me about after I talked to you. She got into the car, and all I talked about was our case… and you… and by then it was too late, I was already on the way to the restaurant, and I couldn't be rude and just tell her that we weren't going to have any type of future… and I knew you were out with Hacker, and I…"

"I left him at the restaurant." She whispered, the smile that had graced her lips was gone. All that remained was a hollow, sad look that Booth tried desperately to get around. "I left him, and… I was going to call a cab, and the rain was falling, and I felt like…" She stopped, watching his brown eyes as they stared into hers, unrelenting and telling, yet questioning at the same time. "I just…" Her eyes were filled with tears, and she couldn't vocalize her thoughts. She thought that she could, but there was just something holding her back, something keeping her from telling him everything. She could see the disappointment in the eyes when she stopped, she could see the disappointment and worry and concern, and a bit of anger slowly seeping into his personality. "I can't, Booth." She whispered.

"Tell me, Bones."

"I can't tell you, Booth. I can't just… tell you."

"If you don't tell me, I'm walking out." He whispered.

His eyes were sincere, his body language was strong and extremely clear, and she didn't think for a moment that he was threatening her, she knew it was a promise. "I am ashamed." She whispered.

"I understand." He nodded. "I understand that you are ashamed, Bones… but this is me you are talking to here, me. Do you think I could hate you for what you did, or why you did it? Do you honestly think there is anything that you can say that would drive me away?"

"I don't want you to be ashamed of me." She whispered. "I hate that I've disappointed you. You don't have to hate me, I hate myself for you."

"Bones, stop." He said, pressing his hand to her cheek, he turned her head to face him. "Stop putting yourself through this. You don't have to put yourself through this, just be honest with me, please." He whispered. "Tell me."

They held their stare for what felt like an eternity.

"Booth."

"Tell me, Bones."

"I just…"

"Bones, this isn't a game!"

"I didn't say it was a game!" She exclaimed, tears rolling down her cheeks now, he could see the despair in her eyes.

"Then tell me, or I'm leaving." He whispered. "Why? Why did you do it?"

"I don't know why I did it!" She exclaimed.

"You're lying!" He exclaimed. "You are lying to me, Temperance!" He exclaimed.

"I don't!" She exclaimed, watching as he took a step backwards, his hand moving from her face, he shoved it in the pocket of his pants. He reached for his jacket, still damp and discarded on another chair. "Booth! Please don't go!"

"After all that we've been through, Bones… after all we've shared… and after all that I've shared with you… and you are still keeping things from me." He whispered. "I… can't put myself through this, Bones. It's too much." He whispered.

"Booth!" She exclaimed again, watching him step toward the door.

"I'll call to check on you, okay?"

"Please…" She exclaimed, moving her legs, she tried to pull her feet to the floor, swinging them over the edge of the bed, Booth stepped toward her quickly.

"No, Bones… Don't… you're hurt." He said, putting his hands on her shoulders.

"And if you leave, I'm going to fall apart." She whispered. "Don't leave." She whispered, holding his arms, she pushed her head against his chest and wrapped her arms around him. "Don't leave me, Booth… I love you, please don't leave me." She held him tightly, her eyes squeezed shut as she held him, and for a moment, she was the only one involved in the hug, she was the only one involved in the moment, it was only a second, and she felt his arms around her, his hand lifting to her head, cradling it tenderly against his chest as he tenderly ran his hand over her back. He dropped tender kisses in her hair as her walls crumbled to dust, and he held her so sweetly, that she felt the layers of denial peeling away slowly. "Please don't ever leave me…" She whispered. "Please…" She whispered.

"You have control over whether I do or not, Bones… this is all about you now. This has always been your call." He whispered, leaving another kiss on her head as he rode the violent wave of emotions that he could see approaching, with the sweet tenderness that he knew she deserved.


	9. And She Needed To Confess

Control was something that she had wholeheartedly put her life into having and protecting. Control was something that she thrived for, something she thirsted for, something she needed to have with her whole self in order to survive. Control was something that kept her heart beating and her blood flowing, and her mind working on task. Control was what got her through her parent's disappearance, her brother's abandonment. Control was what rescued her from her self doubt and fear when she was bounced from home to home in the foster system, her experience with abuse and ridicule. Control is what had gotten her through college and afterwards, when she was looking for a job and finding that many places were uninterested in a socially awkward woman scientist who could memorize every bone in the human body, but couldn't and didn't care to learn the names of her colleagues.

Control was what helped her not throttle the FBI agent she was assigned to over five years ago when he treated her like a hired hand one minute, and like a piece of porcelain the next. Control was what rescued her from her own thoughts when Kenton had kidnapped her, when she was confronted with an invisible evil while in New Orleans, or buried alive by a sadistic serial killer. Control was what helped her through her partner's kidnapping on more than one occasion, and what helped her from her fear of allowing her father back into her life. Control was what had saved her from the murderous cannibal who had bombed their car, the doctor who had killed all of those people and buried them beneath the fountain, the killer clown that chased them through that warehouse, it was control that saved her from the pain of losing her best friend, shot down by a jealous woman in the middle of a crowded bar.

She stopped.

Suddenly , it all stopped. Her mind stopped, her crying stopped, and if she didn't know better, she would have thought her heart and breathing had stopped. She pulled her arms from around him, pushing at his body, and for a moment, she felt him hold fast. She pushed harder because she needed to look at his face, and she felt his feet stumble slightly, be it from sleepiness or steadfastness, she didn't know, she just knew that she needed control.

"Stop."

This time, the word came from her lips, and entered his ears at such a velocity, he felt it sink to his heart and cause it to explode, not literally of course, but from the feeling in his chest, he wouldn't have been surprised.

"Stop what?" He whispered.

"I don't know, just… stop."

"Bones."

"Stop." She said again, holding her hand to him, she held it against his chest, and though she knew that he could perceive it as her pushing him away, she could still feel his body leaning into her hand just slightly.

"Stop thinking." His voice tickled her ears and she knew what he meant. He wanted her to lose control, to use her control. He wanted her to stop thinking, stop doing the one thing that always lead her, always told her how to act, how to feel, how to fight, and never run. "Stop thinking for just a second." Her hand relaxed and dropped, and her eyes moved from his chest to his face as she finally looked him in the eyes. He could see the hurt, the deep, dark hurt that was floating in the endless pools of her eyes, and he wanted to hold her, but he knew that would be giving in, and she was still far from giving in, or so he thought.

"I lost…" She whispered. "I lost control." She whispered, in the smallest voice imaginable without being nothing but air. "I lost control, and I know why I lost control, I just…"

"I love you, Temperance." He whispered, moving toward the bed, he pushed himself up beside her and allowed his legs to hang over the edge. Her eyes followed his, and he followed hers, and they danced together in that moment as she shifted her position to look at him.

"I think that I've gone insane." She whispered.

"Why do you think that?"

"Because somehow in the last five years… all of my control, all of my self-assurance, all of my pride, all of my heart, my thoughts, my bravery… all of who I am…somehow it has gotten attached to you, and I don't know how to get it back." She sucked in a breath and he lost sight of her eyes when they closed. "I feel like you have taken everything I have."

"Bones, you're giving me way too much credit." He whispered.

"No I haven't!" She exclaimed, her eyes opening quickly. "No…" She whispered, catching her outburst, realizing that her fingers had grasped hold of his arm unconsciously, she pulled them back as if she had been burned, only to find that he had snatched them up on their way back to her own body, grasping them tightly in his own.

"Keep going, I'm listening." He whispered. "I'm listening." He repeated, noting the thoughtful look in her eyes, as they caught his and stopped, as if they were trying to read him, and then they shifted to their hands.

"This is just proof." She whispered. "You, sitting here… holding my hands… making me stay in this bed, because I was stupid and careless. This is just proving my point that I'm going insane."

"Bones, you're not going insane…"

"Then you tell me why I did what I did."

"I can't tell you that, Bones… only you know, and you are the one that has to tell me."

"Why do you think… why do you think I did what I did?"

"I can't tell you what I think, Bones. That's cheating… and you never cheat. You know what you're feeling, you know what you are thinking, you're just working it through your mind now, and you're just trying to figure out the best way to say it, so that you can remain in control. It is okay to lose control every once in a while, Bones. It's natural. Here…" He said, releasing her hands.

He carefully stood up and turned, reaching for her hand again, he looked to the clock. They both knew that he was checking to see what time it was, knowing that the nurses would be in to check her bandages, and he wanted her to be comfortable. He reached for her hand and she took his, their eyes meeting in a moment of understanding as she pulled herself back into the bed. He elevated the bed a bit, knowing that she wasn't interested in sleep, and she watched as he carefully pulled her blankets up to cover her. They didn't speak as he moved to pull his hand from hers, and he felt a bit of resistance, but when he looked down at her and she shifted on the bed, he knew exactly what she was asking. His eyes flashed to the door, for just a split second before he slipped his shoes from his feet, revealing the blue and purple striped socks that he had chosen for the evening. He watched her eyes as they danced with his, her lip pursed just so as if she were fighting a half smile, as if they were telling him to stop worrying so much, that they were adults, and this would be fine. She tugged at the blanket as she rolled onto her side a bit, feeling his body move onto the mattress beside her, but touching her arm with his hand as he settled beside her. She gave him a corner of the blanket, to which he nearly rolled his eyes and tucked it back beneath her. He remained on his side, his hand lifting to touch her cheek, as their foreheads met softly in the middle, and his other arm remained in her arm, tenderly rubbing it above the blanket.

She breathed him in deeply, her eyes closing for a moment, and before she could let out the breath, her words tumbled from her lips. "It was you."

He was silent, not because he didn't understand, but because he knew for a fact that there was more. Temperance Brennan would never leave it at that, she knew that he knew why she was running. She also knew that he would never walk away. His words were not meant as manipulative, they were a push in the direction that she needed to move in, that they needed to move in. It was an understanding between them, and his words were meant to show her how serious he was. Why else would he say that he loved her one second, and threaten to leave in the next breath? They lay silently, awaiting her next words. Her eyes were still closed as she let her breath escape her lips slowly.

"When I was a little girl, I was normal." She said, opening her eyes to find that he had not lost a moment of staring back at her, and she wondered if he'd make a response to her comment. He just watched her intently. "I did normal little girl things… you know? I was a tom boy, but that was okay… I still liked dressing up and being a girl too… not everything was dirt and rocks and bones… death." She whispered. "I wasn't always the beautiful one, or the nicest one… but I always seemed to be the smartest one… in anything I did… I liked being the smartest one, I still like being the smartest one… but at some point, which… I think it's safe to say was when my parents disappeared… I um… I used my intelligence as a shield. I had never noticed it before… I mean… in the past few years, I've noticed it… but I kind of just thought of it as a figment of my imagination, you know?"

He nodded at her rhetorical question, and she paused. She paused as if she thought he was going to say something, and when he didn't, she knew she could continue, grateful that he was letting her go on and on with no interruption, his eyes were sparkling at hers and she paused a second or two longer than she had intended.

"Booth, when I was fifteen… and my parents disappeared, when I was… experiencing the foster system." She paused. "When… people in high school picked on me because I was different, or people in college disrespected me because I always had the right answer… I was able to keep my control. That first case that you worked on with me… you treated me like I deserved." She whispered. He looked like he wanted to interrupt her, but her eyes told him not to dare. "You… treated me like I was one of your tools to get your job done, and that's what I was. I had control over what I did, and what I said, and I still chose to be cold to you. It was what I perceived as control… control over the situation, control over my life… because that is the only thing that I do have control over." She whispered.

"Kenton… Epps, the whole Gormogon thing with Zack and… My father returning, my brother returning, my mother's body being found… You… being kidnapped…These are thing I had no control over. My… partner being shot in front of me… dying… in front of me." She whispered, her eyes filling with tears, she remained strong. "I had no control over that." Her lip trembled. "Me getting arrested for shooting that guy in the leg…" She said, her eyes lightening as she tried to make the moment a little lighter. "I could have controlled that." She said, watching his eyes lighten a bit as he smiled at her attempt. "The um… the time that I got shot on your birthday… because I was talking too much… I could have controlled that… but you taking me home that night, and tucking me in… making sure that my sling was tight and that my bandage was changed. I couldn't control that… Like I couldn't control you stepping in front of me when Pam shot at me, or that Christmas that you and Parker brought the tree… Booth… or when you… the brain tumor, you know? I couldn't control that… but… I… I don't… I don't know…" She whispered as she started to panic a bit, his hand moved to her other cheek, and he carefully ran his thumb over it delicately, capturing the rogue tear on his fingertip, he could feel it trickle down his thumb as he watched her.

"Bones…" He whispered.

"You have taken all of my control, Booth." She whispered. "You have taken it, and when you're not there to stop me… I lose it." She said as she started to cry. "I lose control."

"You don't lose control… you don't…" He whispered.

"Then why am I lying in a hospital bed with my feet covered in lacerations? Why am I lying here waiting for the sun to come up so that my boss and my psychologist can come in here and tell me that I'm incompetent and stupid? I can't tell them why I ran, I can't tell them! I can only tell you! I can only tell you, because you are the reason!"

"I don't unders…"

"I couldn't tell you that I love you, Booth! I can't ruin your chance at happiness with someone that can make you happy! I'm not what you want! I'm not what you want, I'm what you protect! You say you love me, but you don't love me! You love protecting me! I was running because you deserve better than me! I was running because I thought that if I closed my eyes and I ran far enough and fast enough, I could disappear… and you won't have to protect me anymore… you could just be happy!"

He held her face steady in his hands as he stared into her eyes. "Stop." He whispered. "Stop, right now."

She stopped.

She stared.

He stared.

"I love you, all of you… happy you, sad you, smart you… smart ass you… all of you… sexy you, geeky you… I love you… Brennan… You. I love you… You, Doctor Temperance Brennan… just you… do you understand me? Do you see my lips moving?" He whispered. "I'm telling you… I love you, Bones… I love you, it's you that I love, it's you that I want to be with… I love you. Temperance? Listen to my voice, hear the words, and believe them… I do not lie to you. I love you."


	10. She Asked Him To Take Her Home

**Chapter 10- She Asked Him To Take Her Home**

The words that he spoke traveled between his lips to her ears, and though they were shocking and surprising to hear in such a long, rambling trail of sentences, she understood that he was simply trying to get his point across. She wanted to react, needed to react, but right now the only thing she could do was breathe, and he was even making that hard for her. Her eyes were lost in his, as if they had traveled down the long pathway of his soul and had been captured by an unknown force, a power much stronger than she could resist was pulling at her gaze, forcing her to stare into the unimaginable distance, and see a world that was filled with love. Her lips were slightly parted, the pink puffs of skin and muscle drying as blood tickled the blood vessels in her face, making her cheeks a light, rosy color as she flushed from the warmth that was filling her body that his stare managed to cause her.

He said nothing more, only kept his eyes on her, kept his watch, his heart steady in place as he allowed his thumb to run slowly down her cheek, pausing for only a moment as his finger danced across her skin and slipped a thread of hair behind her ear.

"Bones?" He whispered, attempting to pull her out of the trance that she seemed to have fallen into, the unwavering stare of this woman was making his stomach knot, and her lack of response was making his heart rate pick up its pace.

"I…" She swallowed hard as her eyes remained trained on his, that magnetic force still pulling them to remain on his, pulling them to remain his. "I want to go home." She whispered.

"You want to go home?"

"Yes."

"It's early."

"I want to go home before it's too late." She whispered.

Her words struck him as cryptic, but he understood them very clearly. She wanted to go home before there were any more questions, any more visitors, or any more decisions to make. She wanted to try to work through this herself, and the one thing he wanted to ensure, was that she wasn't running now as she was running before. "Bones." He whispered.

"Will you take me home?" She asked, her eyes still focused intensely on his, and she watched his mouth open slightly, her finger lifting to his lips, he watched her. "Take me home with you." She whispered. "I don't want to be alone, but I don't want to be here."

He reached up and took her hand in his, feeling how cool it was in his fingertips, he brought it to his lips slowly, dropping a tender kiss on their tips. "You want me to break you out of here?" He whispered, watching her carefully. "Bones…"

She broke eye contact then, shifting in the bed, she brought her focus to the ceiling with a steely stare. "This is no one's business but my own." She said softly.

"Your friends are concerned." He replied, watching her head turn to look at him, she swallowed hard as tears appeared in her eyes.

"You told them?" She whimpered.

"I talked to Angela and Cam." He whispered. "I was worried, you were unconscious, soaked. You were dehydrated and exhausted. They were the last ones to see you. I needed to know how you were before. Angela is at Hodgins' place, and Sweets showed up too, I think Cam called him to ask if you had talked to him. We were all scared." He said, watching the fear in her eyes.

"This is nobody's business but my own." She whispered.

"I agree." Booth replied, his voice showing its sincerity, she didn't think for a moment that he was simply placating her. He was being true and honest, and his eyes were showing that.

"So I'd like to go home." She whispered.

"Your feet are badly cut up… and you were dehydrated." He replied.

"I'll drink plenty of fluids… we can come back tomorrow, Booth. I promise, I just… I need to get out of here. I hate hospitals." She whispered.

"You hate hospitals?"

"They're so sterile and impersonal… cold." She whispered, watching a smile curl his lips, she narrowed her eyes. "What?"

"I've never heard a more ironic statement from anyone in my entire life." He whispered. "You spend every day in that lab… where not a particle of dust is allowed to fall without being sent through seven different filtration devices… and you don't like hospitals because they're sterile and impersonal." He said, watching her eyes sparkle at his, she looked like she was about to cry, and wasn't appreciating his mentioning of her ironic statement. "You want to get out of here?" He asked, watching her head nod slowly as he carefully started to sit up. "I'll go get the nurse to draw up your discharge papers." He replied. "However… you will stay with me…"

"That's fine."

"And we will be back tomorrow for a full work up."

"I just don't want to be here anymore. I don't want to be constantly reminded of my stupidity." She whispered.

"Hey." He said, touching his fingertips to her forehead, he carefully pushed the hair from her eyes. "It wasn't stupidity." He whispered. "It was a moment of insanity, Bones… we're all entitled to one or two in our lives."

"Thank you, Booth." She whispered. "Thank you."

"I would do anything for you, Temperance." He replied, his eyes intent on her, his voice deep and serious. "Absolutely anything." He whispered. "Without a doubt, anything." He said, as he rolled from his place on the bed and leaned down, dropping a kiss on her forehead, he reluctantly released her hand and went in search of a nurse.


	11. So He Took Her Home

**Update 11- So He Took Her Home**

Silence filled the room, her body surrounded in a cocoon of blankets and she felt absolutely intoxicated by the scent that surrounded her. She took a deep, satisfying breath, her lungs expanding to their limits, where she held it there for a moment, unwilling to allow the smile on her face disappear just yet. There were pillows surrounding her, blankets piled over her body, and the t-shirt she was wearing tickled the bare skin beneath it.

She attempted to roll to her side, her right foot making contact with the left, and even with the massive bandages that had been put on them, she felt the intense pain shoot up her leg. She tried to stifle her cry, to no avail. Tears flooded her eyes as her mouth emitted a shout that arguably could have woken the dead. The pain was excruciating and she found herself gasping to try to control the pain, to control the shots of pain shooting up her leg. There was a moment that she thought she was alone, but before the howl of pain had completed, there was someone on the bed with her, pulling her to their chest, holding her, soothing her, telling her that everything would be okay.

Would it be okay?

Holding her, rocking her, kissing her head, she became even more aware of the scent that was invading her senses, and her breathing slowed, the small gasps were deepening, and the sobbing whimpers came to a slow end. She could see that the sun was peeking through the edges of the curtains, closed and masked from the room so that she could get rest, something she rarely did during the night, let alone the daytime. Her pain medication had obviously worn off, and she figured this out for two reasons. One was that she was awake, and the second was that she was in intense pain. Of course the pain had only been caused by herself, so had the source of this pain… from running… running from the thought that what was happening between she and this man who was holding her could never happen. Her breathing was calming from the short gasps of air.

"It's okay…" He whispered tenderly. "It's okay… tell me what happened. Did you hit your foot?" He whispered, feeling her nod against his chest, she seemed to be unable to speak just yet, her body and mind recovering from the intense pain. "It's alright… just ride it out… just ride it out, Bones…" He whispered.

"I hate this." She growled into his chest, her nose pressed against his t-shirt as she gripped him tightly. She pulled herself into him harder. "I hate this so much." She whimpered.

"I know." He whispered.

She wanted to tell him that he didn't know.

"Remember when I shot that ice cream truck?" He whispered, rocking her gently in his arms. "That is a perfect example of me losing control… a momentary lapse of sanity." He whispered.

She was silent in his arms, he realized, her sniffles slow as he rocked her carefully. He could tell that the pain was subsiding, and he decided to just keep talking. "Yeah… no one was hurt physically… but you know, that was kind of the start of a little bit of a downward slide for me… you know… after the Epps thing… and the Sully thing… and then the Sully leaving thing…" He trailed off when he heard her mumble something into his chest, he paused. "What was that, Bones?" He whispered.

She lifted her face to look into his eyes, her cheeks were bright red from the pain, her eyes watery and light. His eyes reflected curiosity as she opened her mouth slightly, her lower lip sliding between her teeth as he watched her expectantly, a supportive smile on his lips. "I said… that I stayed because of you." She whispered. She could see the surprise in his eyes, and he wanted to speak, but there were no words. "I had made a promise to you… that I would help you catch these people." She whispered. "You shoot 'em, I cuff 'em." She said with a bit of a smile on her lips. "He was trying to escape his life, he could never make a decision or stay with one thing. You… you're steady, you're strong… you are my constant… and maybe there was a split second on that dock where I thought that I should have been on that boat with him… but the moment that I turned around and saw you standing there… I knew that I had made the right decision." She whispered.

"I am glad you didn't leave." He whispered, kissing her forehead softly.

"I am glad I didn't leave." She whispered.

He carefully pulled her to him as he leaned her back into the pillows slowly, and moved down so that he could face her. "You alright?" He whispered. "I'd give you another pain pill, but we have to get to the hospital sometime this afternoon." He listened to her groan as she closed her eyes tightly an clenched her teeth. "Oh, stop the pouty face…" He whispered as he ran his finger over her cheek, watching her eyes open slowly. "You promised you'd go to the hospital with me… you promised, and I've been able to keep the vultures at bay with their questions and concerns."

"I don't know what that means." She whispered.

"It means if I tell Angela… one more time… that you're sleeping… she's going to find me and kill me, and figure out a really good way to dispose of my body so that no one ever finds my it." He replied.

"That's ridiculous." She said sleepily, yawning as she glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. "There's no way that Angela could do it alone, she'd need Hodgins to help." She mumbled, smiling just a bit before closing her eyes again. "How did you get me up here?" She whispered.

"I carried you." He whispered.

"You carried me from the car, up the stairs to the bed?"

"You were so out of it." He shook his head.

"Mmm… what time is it?" She whispered.

"It's a little after noon." He whispered. "Let's get you dressed… and to the hospital."

"Do I have to get dressed?" She mumbled.

"As breathtakingly beautiful as you are in my t-shirt… and little else…" He whispered, watching her cheeks turn pink as she watched him. "I think your own clothes would be the best option. Angela dropped some off." He whispered. "The bag is on the other side of the bed. Do you…?"

"I will call you if I need help." She whispered.

"Don't fall back asleep." He whispered. "I'll be checking on you", leaning over to kiss her forehead again.

"Thank you." She whispered, allowing a tear or two to appear in her eye. "Thank you." She whispered again, taking another kiss on the cheek to erase her tear, before he rolled from the bed and quietly disappeared from the room.


	12. And He Cared For Her

**Chapter 12- And He Cared For Her**

She felt like she could physically feel the blood running through her body, she could smell the sweat from her pores, and hear the pipes in the walls gurgling and flowing, gurgling and flowing with each use of them. She was once again buried in the overly fluffy blankets of her partner's bed, surrounded by the feathered pillows and down comforters on his pillowtop bed. She wondered for a moment how such a 'manly' man could sleep on a bed that was made with such softness. She breathed in the scent of that man, and shifted when she heard a sound from outside the room. She looked to the window, noting the darkness now around the curtains, and she wondered for a moment what time it was. She made sure not to move her feet, learning her lesson from that afternoon, she shifted a little on the bed, trying to sit up.

Their trip to the hospital had gone well, and she called Angela while they were on their way, to keep her mind off the pain of her feet, and keep Booth from becoming Angela's murder victim. The conversation had been short, and when Angela learned that Booth was keeping her very much happy and comfortable, her friend apologized to Brennan for nagging him, but never directly to him. When she hung up the phone, Booth simply gave her a glance out of the corner of his eye to let her know that he was still watching over her, and she pushed into her seat a little more comfortably as she put her phone down.

The visit to the doctor was short, if only because Booth was so incredibly impatient that he had been sure to call ahead of time to let them know that she was on her way back. He helped her to a wheelchair and wheeled her into the hospital against her protests that she could handle it herself, he just gave her a look that screamed control, to which she rightfully gave up the fight to him, and allowed him to pull her into the waiting room. She watched him as he stood at the nurse's desk checking her in, his broad shoulders and strong stance, the way he took control of it all, she wondered how she could have ever doubted the feelings that she had for him, because he was acting no differently then he would have any other day. This was just who he was, and he was protecting his family… he'd do anything.

They had unwrapped her feet and done a thorough exam, speaking in soft tones, the doctor and herself, he determined that she was mentally sound, and that her injuries were going to be quite painful. The pads of her feet were shredded, and the skin had been torn, muscle showing. The doctor allowed her to lift her foot carefully so that she could see the damage herself, and she found that she was sick to her stomach, her eyes moving to her partner, she noted that he too looked as if he would be sick, though he said that he had seen them the night before, when they were cleaning her wounds, and that they now looked better than they had then. She wanted to believe him, but the nauseas feeling still stayed with her.

In the car, on the way back to the apartment, he had given her some encouraging words, though she found that her attention was with the passing scenery, and not with the man in the car that was attempting to make her feel better. She felt sick and tired, and despite his company, she felt a little lonely. They had pulled to the curb of his building, and she felt lethargic and helpless, and before she could focus on how she was getting out of the car, he was standing beside her with the door open, prepared to lift her from her seat.

"Isn't there another way?" She whispered.

"I'm afraid not." He replied.

"I could just stay here." She whispered back.

"I'm not leaving you in the car." He said, tipping his head, he leaned forward carefully and found her ear with his lips. "Do you remember the damage… to my feet, do you remember the x-rays?"

"The torture?"

"Yes."

"I would have given anything to have someone who was willing to save me from that pain." He whispered. His eyes were sincere, there was no smile or humor in his words. He was dead serious, and she was watching him so carefully, that she feared if she denied this to him, that it would break his heart. "I want to help you. Please give yourself to me, and I promise that I will never let anything like this happen again. Please let me take care of you."

"Booth…"

"Hm?"

"I'll let you carry me." She whispered, holding her hand to his chest for a moment. "But you have to let me put a pair of your socks over my bandages… so I don't have to look at them."

He paused, his eyes on hers so sincerely as he tipped his head and narrowed his eyes. "You finally get it." He said, his lips curling into a smile. "You finally understand the socks."

"I always understood the socks." She said sincerely. "I just know that you don't like it when the attention is on you… on your habits and reasons. You have your way, and that's just the way it is." She nodded. "I have always accepted you the way that you are."

"And that's another reason why I love you so much." He said, reaching for her tenderly, she allowed him to lift her from the vehicle to his arms as he closed the door with his foot, and carried her back to his home and his bed.

That's where she found herself, sitting alone in the darkness. She sat up carefully, and it was as if he just knew. The door opened slowly, and the light beside the bed was switched on. "Are you ready for dinner?" He said in a soft, low tone.

"You brought me dinner?" She asked, seeing the tray in his hands, she gasped lightly at his forwardness.

"No." He said as he slipped onto the bed beside her with the tray, sliding it over the blankets between them both, he pulled two plates from the tray and handed her one. "I brought 'us' dinner." He said, as he leaned in her direction, dropped a kiss on her cheek, and smiled at their matching striped socked feet that poked from beneath the blankets.


	13. She Needed To Know

**Chapter 13- She Needed to Know**

Once the remains of dinner had been obliterated, Brennan could feel her eyelids drooping as she carefully wiped away the crumbs from the corners of her lips and looked down at her hands for a moment. She knew that he was watching her, the conversation had been light and friendly, and in the past ten minutes, their words had been few and far between. He had tried to keep the conversation light for her benefit, only touching on subjects that he knew would make her smile or laugh, and he never once mentioned work, for which she was quite grateful for. She placed the napkin on the tray between them and leaned back on the pillow, closing her eyes.

"Are you ready to go to sleep?" He whispered.

"Mmhm…" She nodded, her eyes opening slowly, flittering flashes of blue that appeared to be glazed over.

"I'll get you the medicine… and we'll change your bandages, okay?" He said, watching her eyes slide closed, her head nodding. "Then I'm going to take advantage of you in your oblivious drugged out state." He said, watching her nod her head, he smiled as she made no attempts to show her surprise by that last statement. He lifted the tray in his hands and moved it carefully to the bedside table. He then leaned over her softly, dropping a kiss on her forehead.

"Be gentle." She whispered as a slow, sly smile spread across her face, she heard his light chuckle that made her eyes open, finding that he was just a mere inch from her face, his eyes delving deeply into her soul, she caught her breath in her throat, and her eyes widened just a bit.

"You're beautiful." He whispered.

"Thank you." She replied.

"I'll be right back." He said, dropping another kiss on her forehead, he started to move away from her, and found that he couldn't go much further, for there was a forensic anthropologist connected to his hand.

"I have a question." She whispered.

"Okay."

"You… come to my rescue, to tell me you love me… break me out of the hospital… you carry me to your bed… you bandage me up, drug me up, dress me in your t-shirt when I'm too exhausted to do it myself… you bring me dinner…"

"I'm still waiting for the question, Bones." He said, watching the sleepy smile on her face as she continued to grip his hand with both of hers.

"Why haven't you kissed me on the lips yet?" She whispered, tugging at his arm, she watched a sly grin slip onto his lips as he moved closer to her, hovering so close to her she watched his eyes sparkle, though her eyes were so filled with exhaustion.

"Because you can barely keep your eyes open… because you are hurting in here." He said, touching her chest lightly with a closed fist. "Because you're hurting up here." He said, touching her head softly, her eyes filling with tears. "Because I don't want to confuse you, or hurt you, or pressure you, or…make you think that I feel sorry for you. I want to take this slowly." He whispered, sitting on the bed beside her, he placed his hand on her cheek as she tipped her head into it. "Yeah, it feels a little bit backwards… me telling you that I love you, and I haven't even kissed you… but since when have you and I done things by the book in anything we do together?" He whispered.

"Booth?" She whispered, watching him tip his head to listen to whatever she had to say very intently. "I love you too." She whispered, letting her tears slip down her cheek onto his hand. "I love you too."

"Let me go get your medicine… your bandages… and then I'll help you to bed."

"Where are you going to sleep?" She asked innocently, watching the sly smile appear on his face as he tipped his head.

"Wherever I land, Bones." He said, watching her smile sleepily up at him as he carefully stood up and grabbed the tray. "I'll be right back." He said, giving her a smile as he disappeared out the door once again.


	14. If it was a Dream, or Reality

**Chapter 14- If it was a Dream Or Reality**

Blackness filled with white sparks of light, flickering again and again. Flashes, flickers.

Explosions?

It couldn't be explosions, explosions emit light and sound, light and sound and heat, and right now she was cold, not warm. Cold and wet and the rain was falling down onto her, and she felt her heart pounding, something, someone was chasing her, she could hear footsteps, loud, loud footsteps thumping.

Was that footsteps or her heart beating?

Not beating, pounding… thumping, bursting… her heart bursting, and she was running. She was running, and she didn't know why, she just was, running faster, and faster from the darkness, from the shadows, from the flashes and explosions, from the footsteps, running from her heart.

Suddenly, she couldn't move. Something was holding her, holding her down, something was wound tightly around her and there was a wind, a whispering wind in her ear as she stood, motionless, motionless and alone, yet whatever was holding her was warm, and she could feel the warmth, not just with the wind, but with whatever was holding her, holding her tightly, securely. She tried to struggle, but struggling was not an option, the wind became more frequent, the whispers, whispers of comfort, whispers of love, there was warmth, and she stopped struggling, stopped pushing, stopped trying to get away, the flickers of light were fading, the darkness was soothing and her skin was warm again.

No more cold, no more fighting, just warmth and tenderness, and whispers of a sweet escape.

He rode the nightmare like a tempest, arms wrapped around her securely as he held his leg between hers, prohibiting her from kicking her feet at him and hurting herself further. He held her tightly, whispering in her ear as she grunted and moaned in pain and fear, fighting hard against his arms, she slowed after several minutes. "It's alright, Bones… it's okay, baby." He whispered. "We'll make it through this, there's no reason to run anymore. I am right here. I am right here, baby… I won't let anyone hurt you." He whispered until her struggling stopped, until he felt her body completely relax, her head burying into his chest as her breathing slowed to normal, and she was once again floating through a peaceful slumber.

He lay with his arms around her, her body buried in his, and he knew that it would be impossible for him to return to the spare bedroom where he had been sleeping just moments before. Not only because he didn't want to leave her, but because he knew that it would be impossible for him to extract himself from her arms without waking her. He carefully ran his hands through her hair, kissing the top of her head softly as he lay thankful that he still had one more day of the weekend left to weather this storm, one more day that he could pretend that on Monday, things would just fall back to normal, and one more day where he could hold her close all day long and pretend that she was always his, and would always be.

So he reached around her body carefully and pulled the down comforter around them both, cocooning them together in a tangle of limbs. He thought to himself about earlier, about her question about how he hadn't kissed her, and his reply of them doing things backwards. He could feel her body still trembling beneath him as she recovered from her nightmare, and knew that this probably wouldn't be the first time that they slept together, before they made love.

With a tender kiss to her head, and a whisper of 'I love you', he breathed in her scent, and reveled in her embrace, as he held his partner and love throughout the night, and into the morning light, where everything could be sorted out eventually.

----------------

She was first aware of the strong arms around her, and the leg that had snaked its way between her legs, holding her securely, she could feel her cheeks burning as she lie there. Her face was buried in his chest, shirtless and smooth, perfectly curved for her face to lie against it. Her cheek was against his chest, her ear pressed against his sternum as she listened to the loud, steady thumping of his heart.

His heart.

The strongest part of this man, and she was mere inches from it. She internally scoffed at herself, for thinking metaphorically, but quickly took it back… because if she were to use one word to describe what he was for her, it would be her heart.

So she lay there, wondering peacefully how he had made his way to this particular place, holding her securely, protectively like this, like she had never been held before, and she knew from his steady breathing and heartbeat that he was asleep. She stayed so steady and so still, that she knew that if she moved, she'd stir him, and ruin this perfect moment, so with a gentle sigh, she smiled against his chest and closed her eyes once again, slipping into a tender, warm, dreamless sleep, feeling more safe and more secure than she had ever felt in her entire life.


	15. She Awoke To His Reality

**Chapter 15- She awoke to his reality**

The next time she rose to the surface of consciousness, it wasn't thumping that pulled her from the warmth of her thoughts, it was his voice. A harsh tone trickled through the apartment and through the door, and she could hear the agitation in his voice, feel the anger in the air as his words became shorter and more irritated. She wanted to call out to him, but she knew that if she called attention to his conversation that it would quiet or end, so she moved her body closer to the edge of the bed, rolling carefully with the sheets and blankets as she stretched her body over the edge, she heard his voice much more clearly through the slight crack in the door.

She felt dizzy and disoriented from the medication, and her stomach was pushing into the edge of the bed oddly, so she pushed herself up a little, feeling a sudden head rush, she tipped over a bit and lost her balance. She wanted to cry out in frustration but found herself too busy trying to catch herself, when she tumbled from the bed onto the carpet on the side of the bed, the top of her foot hitting the metal frame of the bed, thankfully not the bottom of her foot, but still hard enough to send shots of pain up her foot as she let out a howl of pain, not drawn out, but a shout nonetheless. She heard a quick dismissal on the phone and the door swung open.

His eyes panned the room and she was no longer on the bed. He ran to the other side and found her lying on her back staring up at him, her eyes wide open, tears rolling down her cheeks as she found herself halfway between a fit of laughter, and a deluge of tears. "Bones!" He exclaimed, reaching down to help her, he felt her arms wrap around his neck as he pulled her onto the bed, laying her back on the mattress, he grabbed her foot and very softly touched it with his fingertips to gauge how sensitive it was. She flinched and groaned as she whimpered, her lower lip protruding much like a little girl as she tried to adjust her breathing so she could speak. "What on earth were you doing?" He whispered.

"Listening to you." She whispered. "Who were you talking to on the phone?" She whispered, watching his eyes darken as if a mask had been tossed over them. His eyes flicked to her foot as he tenderly pulled the sock from her foot. "Booth? You sounded angry."

"It wasn't anyone, don't worry." He said, and though he meant for it to sound tender, his words came out harsh and with a bit of anger, as if he had tasted something bitter. "It was nothing, Bones. Don't worry about it." He said, carefully tugging at the bandage, he unrolled her ankle and foot into his hand, looking at the top of her foot, he noted a slight red mark on the top of her foot and tipped his head a bit. "You're going to have a bruise." He whispered.

"It will be fine." She whispered, sitting up slightly, she felt a bit dizzy and her eyes caught his as he watched her head loll a bit, and a small smile lit up his face. "I don't think I want any more painkillers." She whispered.

"Are you sure, Bones?"

"I think I'll go with Tylenol from now on, Booth." She whispered. "I am really not in control of myself right now, and I'm really tired of sleeping." She shook her head, unsure if what she had said made sense. He rewrapped her foot and slipped the sock back on it.

"Do you want to get out of here for a little while?" He asked, raising his eyebrows curiously as he watched her eyes narrow as if she were trying to focus on him.

"Do you mean out of the room, or out of the apartment?" She asked, her head turning to the table next to the bed, she pouted at the empty glass sitting on its surface.

"Anywhere you want to go, Bones… your wish is my command." He said, standing up quickly, he walked around the bed and grabbed the glass, her eyes lifting to his as a smile lit up her face.

"Can we go for a little drive?" She asked, following him with her eyes as he walked toward the door.

"Absolutely…" He nodded.

"And can we…"

"And we can stop at your apartment for you to get some things… if you want to stay there, you can… but…"

"I prefer to stay here." She said definitively, watching the pleased smile on his lips. "You slept with me last night." She said, her voice light and airy, he wasn't sure if she had liked the idea, or was against it. He watched the shy smile on her lips, and her cheeks tinged pink. "I liked it."

Her smile made him feel like a little kid, the feeling in his stomach bubbling up as he watched her eyes on him, he felt almost giddy when she tipped her head like that, her eyes sparkling as if she were just waiting for something. "You were having a nightmare." He said as he shrugged as if his comfort was no big deal, as if she should just expect it by now, and not seem so surprised. "I didn't want you to hurt yourself." He said, glancing to the door as he heard his phone ringing. "I should get that… I'll be right back with your water." He said, holding up the glass. "Then get you showered and dressed, and out of this apartment." He said, leaning over to kiss her cheek softly, before turning and walking toward the door. "And no more diving off the bed." He said quickly, disappearing around the corner before she could reply.


	16. His Reality Was Tender For Her

Not a word was spoken as he lifted her to sit on the small stepstool that he had situated in the bathtub. He pulled the small table up alongside the bathtub where he had placed shampoo, conditioner, a bar of soap alongside a washcloth. Two towels were folded on the table as well, and he carefully pulled the bandages from her feet, allowing them to fall to the bottom of the empty tub as he cringed at the damage that had been wrought on her tender flesh. She was wrapped comfortably in his dark blue bathrobe, and he in boxer shorts and a thin t-shirt.

He lifted the bandages from the tub and tossed them into the trash can beside the toilet, and he climbed into the tub with her, seating himself on the edge as he carefully pulled her feet into his lap, cradling them as if they were a small child, he kept his eyes on her feet the entire time, pretending not to notice the loosened tie on the bathrobe, or the way it fell to the side of her legs when he cradled her feet. Reaching to his side, he turned the faucet on slowly, hot and then cold, warming the water accordingly to a desirable temperature as he lifted the washcloth to beneath the flow of water. He was focused on the sound of the water, squeezing the cold water from the washcloth as the warm water replaced it again and again, he reached for the bar of soap, and lifted his eyes, catching a glimpse of hers as she sit, her arms stretched onto the side of the tub, stretching backwards a bit, her eyes on him, and now on his eyes.

"Is this okay?" He whispered, lathering the washcloth carefully with soap, he placed the bar back in the holder, and she nodded, feeling the washcloth on her leg as he slowly moved his hand up and down her leg with the cloth, her feet comfortable in their place in his lap, her eyes following his as he wet the cloth again, lathering and massaging her skin with the soap, he thought he heard a quiet moan from the woman who was under his touch, and when he looked up at her, he realized her eyes were closed. Smiling, he continued his careful cleansing of her legs, moving up her calves to her knee, he watched her head move backwards a bit as he warmed the cloth again and continued to clean her other leg, stopping at her knee, he swept the cloth against her thigh and felt her jump, her eyes opening immediately as he smiled innocently at her. "I'm sorry." He whispered.

"No." She said shyly, her cheeks transitioning to a light pink hue, she tipped her head. "It just surprised me." Their eyes settled on one another, and she let her eyes pass to the shampoo. "Here." She whispered. "Help me… turn around… and I'll set my feet on the stepstool… and you can help me wash my hair." She said, pulling at the tie on the bathrobe, he gasped a bit when she pulled it off, and she caught him reaching for it as she pulled it from her shoulders and allowed it to gather on the stepstool. Thankfully, she still had his t-shirt on beneath it, though Booth looked quite red in the face realizing that he did not know that, and her tiny smile only deepened the color as he shook his head.

"Tease." He said softly, pulling the bathrobe from the tub, he stood up and moved across the tub, sitting cross legged in the large tub, he helped her turn around, being sure to support her back as she slid from the stepstool to his lap, her feet sitting on the stepstool up and out of the water, her body moving against his as he settled himself with her atop him . He now cradled her in his arms, much like he had cradled her feet, and he could feel his desire steeping as he held her securely against himself. The t-shirt had of course become wet in the flow of water, and the material clung to her shapely body much like a second skin, leaving absolutely nothing to the imagination, and he made no attempt to look away. She tipped her head back beneath the running faucet, allowing it to run over her dark tendrils of hair, soaking them thoroughly. He reached forward with his loose hand and grabbed the shampoo bottle, flicking the top open, he deposited a bit of the slippery formula onto her hand, catching her eyes as she lifted her hand to her hair.

He placed the bottle down and reached his hand up, helping her to massage the shampoo into her scalp, her eyes closing as she soothed the bit of nagging headache that remained in her head, and his fingers felt so good rubbing in her hair. She may have let a stray moan escape her lips, and swore that she felt his body react, but decided it best if she didn't excite him any further than she already knew he was.

She rinsed the soap from her hair, feeling his strong arms around her as he held her against him, helping the same way with the conditioner, helping her to rinse it from her hair, he watched her carefully as she pulled herself up a little closer to him, in his arms and deposited a small kiss on his cheek, her breasts rubbing against his now wet t-shirt as he felt his heartbeat pick up its pace. It took him a moment to come to his senses, and he felt her shiver in his arms.

"Why don't… I help you to the edge of the tub, you can keep your feet resting on the footstool, and… finish cleaning… everything…" He paused, unsure of what to say, he watched her nod her head as he helped her back to the footstool, she twisted around as he moved and carefully stood up, reaching behind him, he turned the water off for a moment as he grabbed one of the towels and wrapped it around his waist, hoping to hide his obvious arousal from having her sitting in his arms. She didn't giggle or make him feel uncomfortable, and after a moment, he lifted her to the edge of the tub, placing a try towel on the stepstool to cushion her feet. She cringed at the contact of her sore and swollen feet on the towel, but was grateful for the cushion, and immediately began to tug at the t-shirt to pull it off.

"Bones… Bones, let me… let me get out of here and give you privacy before you start pulling things off." He said awkwardly as she gave him a sly smile.

"You could practically see through the shirt anyway, Booth. I don't see why it..." She stopped when she saw the look on his face, a simple wish for her to 'not start' with him. She paused and gave him an impatient look. "Well? If you don't want to see me naked…"

"Oh… oh, I'm… I'll… call me when you're done, and have the bathrobe around you, and I'll come in and bandage your feet… then we can be on our way." He said, watching her nod her head. "Bones?" He said, watching her look at him curiously, he stepped toward the door. "You're beautiful." He said, disappearing out the door to dry himself off and get ready to go, he left her blushing and smiling as she leaned over and prepared to finish her almost bath without him.


	17. And A Bit Angrier For Himself

**_Chapter 17- And A Bit Angrier For Himself_**

Booth spent his time in the living room arranging the various packs of gauze and wrap for Brennan's feet after he had changed into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. He was just pulling a pack of gauze from one of the boxes when he heard a light knocking at his door. "Just a second." He called, looking toward the bathroom, he heard the water turn off and walked over toward the bathroom. "Bones, you alright in there?"

"I'm almost ready for your help, Booth." She replied.

"There's someone at the door, so if I don't answer right away…"

"That's fine." She replied. Her voice was still a bit tired from all of the sleep that she had gotten, and he gave the door a worried smile before he moved toward his apartment door. He glanced in the peep hole and immediately felt a surge of rage rising into his chest.

He opened the door a crack and peered out into the hallway. "Sir?" He said, his eyes on Assistant Director Andrew Hacker, though his jaw was ticking with an intense anger.

"Booth." He said in an overly energetic tone. "Is Temperance still here? I'd like to talk to her."

"I told you on the phone, Sir. She's not seeing anyone right now."

"Yeah, I thought you'd say that… however, I have something that I need to give her." He said, pushing past Booth, he let himself into the apartment.

"She's not available."

"Why is that? Do you have her chained to a bed or something?" He chuckled to Booth as he glanced in the general direction of the bathroom. His eyes fell upon the bandages set out on the coffee table. "Woah… is she alright? I know you said she had some cuts on her feet or something, but you didn't tell me she needed to be bandaged like a mummy." He said as he picked up one of the boxes.

"Her feet are… sore, she has some injuries… do you mind not touching things, please?"

"Oh, I'll just wait for Temperance…" He said, giving Booth a snide grin, his eyes widening as if he felt that anything Booth said at this point, he'd argue, and he was most certainly not leaving until he spoke to Temperance. Booth had an overwhelming urge to just lift the man and throw him out of the apartment, and was taking a step forward to do just that when he heard her voice floating from the bathroom, calling his name.

"Booth? Is everything alright out there?" She called, able to hear voices, she could sense the tension in her partner's voice, and didn't quite recognize the other voice.

"I'll be right there, Bones." Booth said as he took a step toward the bathroom. "Sir…"

"I'll just wait here." He said, an amused look on his face as Booth sighed and reached forward, grabbing hold of the bandages on the table, he walked toward the bathroom without a second look at their guest. He stepped into the bathroom, finding her sitting on the edge of the tub, wrapped securely in his bathrobe, looking so small and vulnerable that he just wanted to pull her into his arms and kiss every exposed inch of her skin.

His eyes held a deep anger, his pupils dilated and dark as he focused his attention on the woman before him, the anger quickly being replaced with thoughts of a less appropriate nature. "Who was at the door?"

"It's Hacker." He said, approaching her quickly, her eyes widened in shock and surprise.

"Andrew?" She whispered as he climbed into the bathtub and settled against the other side, setting the bandages on the table beside the tub, he crouched down and carefully pulled her left foot into his lap.

"Yeah… and he won't leave, he wants to see you." He whispered.

"I don't want to see him." She said, her brow furrowing as he nodded his head, concentrating on her foot as he carefully put medicine on some of the cuts and scratches, his finger running over them so slowly and so delicately, that if she wasn't watching him, she would never even know he was touching it.

"I told him to leave, but he won't leave." He replied, his voice louder, so perhaps the unwelcomed guest would perhaps get the hint, Brennan's eyes showed her fear. "I am ready to throw him out of here, literally."

"Is that who you were talking to on the phone earlier?" She whispered, watching his eyes move back to her foot as he began to wrap it carefully.

"I told him not to come over. I told him that you were resting and that you weren't taking visitors. I told him that because you need time, and people have to give you time." He said, looking up at her. "Angela did… Angela stayed away, and she never stays away, Bones… she's always sticking right by you when something goes bad… she got the hint, why can't he?" He said with an angry growl.

"You can't kick him out, Booth." She said, reaching forward, she touched his hand, he looked up into her eyes.

"And why the hell not?" He growled. "He's in my apartment… he's touching my things… he's trying to get in here to touch more of… more things…" He said, his anger getting the best of him for a moment, Brennan seemed to be getting nervous. "What's wrong, Bones?" He said, wrapping her left foot carefully, he watched her as she became noticeably agitated and upset.

"I was afraid this was going to happen. I shouldn't have… I never should have broken up with him. He's going to take it out on you, or you're going to do something to anger him… and you're going to suffer." She said as she tipped her head in her hand. "I never should have done this… I never should have gone out with him in the first place." She said, trying to hide her eyes from him, trying to hide her tears, he carefully placed her foot down on the stepstool and moved across the tub to her, pulling her into him tightly, he hugged her. It took her a moment and she cried against him, her tears wetting his t-shirt as he felt the anger rising in his chest. The more upset she became, the angrier he became, until he couldn't take it anymore.

"Bones?" He said softly as he placed his palm on her cheek, she lifted her eyes to his, and she looked so sad, and so unbelievably pitiful, he knew that he needed to do this. "I love you with all of my heart, and I will do anything for you."

"Booth." She whispered, reading his eyes very clearly.

"I'll be right back." He said, leaning down to kiss her tenderly, his lips brushed hers as he jumped from the tub and ran toward the door, opening it swiftly, he disappeared onto the other side.

Brennan sat, her eyes on the door as she heard the sound of Booth's gruff, demanding voice, and another man's voice, and Booth again… then silence for about three seconds, until she heard struggling. Struggling, and shouting, and more struggling, until she heard the sound of a door slamming.

After another fifteen seconds, the bathroom door opened, and Booth walked in. He was out of breath and sporting a red mark on his face, a bit of blood trickling down the side of his lip. "Booth!" She exclaimed, suddenly worried about not only his wellbeing, but his job now, as it became very clear what he had done.

"You don't have to worry about Hacker." He said, walking to the mirror, he wiped the blood from his lip with a wet cloth at the sink and assessed the bruise on his face. "I showed him to the door." Booth said, turning around, he gave her a charming smile as he walked toward her. "One more foot to go… and then we'll go for our ride." He said softly, climbing into the tub again, he moved to wrap her foot as if nothing had just happened.


	18. They Both Teetered on the Edge

**Chapter 18- They Both Teetered on the Edge of Insanity**

His touch was tender as he wrapped her foot, his eyes focusing on the wrapping bandage, his body relaxed as his hands touched her ankle, holding her foot just above his thigh as the gauze was placed delicately on the sores on her feet. "Your feet are going to be very sensitive for a while." He whispered.

"Booth?" She said, her voice was small and inquisitive, and he knew what she was thinking as soon as his name trickled from her lips.

"Yes?" He said, glancing up at her as he pulled a strip of surgical tape from the roll, securing her bandage, he carefully placed her foot down, and climbed from the tub beside her, feeling her soft hand capture his, she released it and lifted her hand to his face.

"What happened?" She whispered, looking at him over her shoulder, her hand tenderly brushed across his cheek. "I… don't understand… did he say something? Did he…?"

"He was here, in my apartment… I asked him to leave, and when he refused to leave, I offered to escort him to the door… in that, he felt the need to… prove… that he should be here."

"He hit you." She whispered.

"It's fine, Bones." He said, cracking a slight smile he leaned over her shoulder and placed a tender kiss on her cheek. "It is really fine. I pushed him out of the apartment, and he hit me again… but I was able to close the door. It's fine."

"How do you know he won't be there when we go downstairs?" She whispered.

"I don't know that, but I do know that he will have more to contend with than just me if he is out there." He said with a slight smile.

"You mean me?" She whispered, raising her eyebrows as he nodded over her shoulder, and moved his hand to lift her from where she was sitting, she reached up and grabbed around the back of his neck to help him pull her up, and he smiled and nodded.

"Even injured, Bones… You're the last person that I would want to make angry if I intended on keeping my front teeth." He said, watching her eyes widen in surprise at his admission, he lifted her carefully and carried her through the bathroom and toward the bedroom. He was very gently placing her on the bed, when he felt her tugging at his shirt. "Bones… you're going to have to let me go."

"Booth?" She whispered, holding his shirt with her fist, her body was on the bed, but her hands were on him, and he moved his arms to settle on either side of her, leaning over her, his chest extremely close to hers, their lips a mere inch apart.

"What do you need, Bones?" He whispered, his voice thick with emotion, his anger just about disappeared as he hovered over her delicately.

"You."

Her request was simple and soft, but he could feel the demanding attention she had given to the word, the thought and emotion that was hiding within that word, deeply entrenched in both of their hearts, their souls. He wanted so much to devour her at that moment, to press his lips against ever single inch of her body and feel her body rise from the bed to his touch. He wanted more than anything to take her to the edge of oblivion and float back to reality slowly and deliberately, so that they would crash together like cymbals, a part of an orchestra of sweet sounds and scents that would vibrate through the room for an eternity. He wanted so much to do that.

He wanted it.

Needed it.

"Bones." He whispered, his voice saying nothing to himself, but she could hear a tone. Perhaps it was real, or imaginary, but she knew he wouldn't give her what she needed right then, what she wanted, desired, pined for, what she felt she had waited far too long to not have.

"How am I supposed to heal if you won't give me what I need?" She whispered.

It was a very good question.

"Oh, God… Bones." He groaned his frustration as he leaned down to leave a tender kiss on her lips, chickening out at the last moment, his lips grazed her cheek. "You know what I'm thinking… you know what I'm feeling, but you do this… you're doing this and it's not right. You're not well… You're hurt."

"But I need… you." She replied. "I don't just want you… this isn't an urge, this is a necessity. It doesn't make sense, and its not logical, not rational… it's just the way it is. I need you. I need to feel exactly what love is." She whispered. "I'm going crazy." She whispered, but there was no concern in her voice, or her eyes when she spoke those last three words. It was prefaced with a stunning smile, almost devious in nature as he smiled back.

"You're making me crazy." He whispered. Part of him wanted to pull away from her, care for her, watch her heal. Part of him wanted to cradle her and hold her, love her and ensure that no one ever hurt her. That part of him wanted to treasure her, respect her, allow her to blossom and grow and learn love, learn passion, learn what it is like to have someone worship her and not use her. Part of him wanted her to be a shrine, a representation, a piece of something delicate and perfect, like a flower that is placed in a glass dome to be observed and not disturbed. However, there was another part of him that wanted to kiss that devious smirk right off her face, to show her what she needed this whole time, to show her what passion was, what making love was, what electricity can shoot through two bodies when love was made the right way, the only way it ever should be made, between two people who would die for the other. He wanted her so badly, she was pulling him apart at the seams, and the longer he hovered above her, the more he leaned toward that part. "We need to go now." He whispered.

"Why?" She asked, her hands rubbing the material of his t-shirt between her fingers, and oh how he prayed he could be the object between those worrying fingers, the source of those passion filled eyes, the reason she screamed out in a lust so strong that her entire body collapsed beneath him as he loved her into the night.

"Because if we don't go now, we will not leave this apartment for days." He whispered.

"And why would that be?" She whispered seductively, and if his body hadn't been reacting at that point, it certainly was now as flames shot through every nerve ending of his body.

"You are a dangerous woman, Temperance Brennan." He whispered delicately, allowing her name to whisper off his lips. "A very, very dangerous woman." He said, watching her eyes roll up, she released his shirt from her grip and looked in his eyes, now that he was free from her grasp.

"You're a good man, Booth." She whispered. "I respect you."

He smiled a knowing smile into her eyes. "You know the way to my heart." He said, leaning forward, he pressed his forehead to hers. "You've always known the way to my heart." He said, closing his eyes, his lips descended onto hers for a moment, her tongue running the line across his lip, before he pulled away, his eyes cutting into hers like a high powered laser into two perfectly formed diamonds. "Get dressed…" He whispered. "We have to get out of this apartment before we both go crazy… really… really crazy."

"I love you." She whispered, letting him stand up, he smiled a satisfying grin, before standing straight and attempting to compose himself, before flashing her a charmingly handsome smile, he turned and walked from the room.


	19. She Was Determined To Not Let Them Fall

**Chapter 19- She Was Determined To Not Let Them Fall**

The scenery floated by quickly, trees, buildings, street posts all blending together as the truck sped through the streets of Washington D.C, stopping at the occasional stop light, slowing at intersections and stopping behind lines of traffic. Another traffic jam, and her eyes moved to the hands on the steering wheel. His knuckles were white from holding the wheel so tightly, and she felt to blame for his agitated demeanor. She wanted him to calm down, needed him to relax, because she could feel her own anxiety rising with each passing second. His eyes shifted to hers, and what was hollow for a split second filled with concern. "Are you okay?" He whispered.

"I was just thinking." She whispered, watching his hands squeeze the steering wheel just a little harder.

"Bones, you're always thinking. You're going to have to be just a little bit more specific." He replied, glancing to her, and back to the road.

"You're strangling the steering wheel." She whispered, watching him pull his hands from the wheel for a second, before settling them a little softer.

"I'm just…" His jaw clenched.

"Having an intense emotional reaction due to the fact that you literally lifted your boss off the ground and threw him out of your apartment?" She implored, watching his eyes widen as he looked to her.

"That's definitely part of it." He nodded. "But it's okay. I did it because I needed to do it."

She wanted to inquire more, but instead kept her thoughts to herself. Her focus was no longer on the scenery, but on the way his jaw was clenching. It was as if he was chewing gum, the tic was so obvious, and his hands were again strangling the steering wheel. "We can stop somewhere if you want."

"Did you want to stop somewhere?" He asked, his voice soft for her. She could tell that he was trying to keep his cool. "I'd like to go to the lab. There are a few things that I'd like to get. Angela said that Cam has put me on leave for the week. I don't think it's necessary, however…"

"Take the week, Bones." He replied. "Just take the week."

"However…" She continued, giving him a disapproving and pointed look after he had interrupted. "I think under the circumstances, it is best that I do as much work as I can at home… perhaps work on a chapter or two of my book, and spend the rest of the time where you and I stand." She said, noticing the grip on the steering wheel become a bit tighter. "Did I say something wrong?" She asked, his eyes flickering to hers for a moment, and back to the road as he kept his mouth closed for a minute.

"I don't have any time." He whispered.

"I don't understand, time for what?"

"Time to take off, I don't have any time to take off." He said quickly. "I tried to get leave… Hacker stopped it in its tracks."

"You don't have to get leave to take care of me, Booth." Her eyes trained on him as he glanced at her.

"I don't have many sick days…"

"Booth, you're not listening to me, I'm fine… I will be fine… we will be fine."

"No, Bones." He said with a low grumble. "I'm very worried that things will not be fine."

"And why is that?"

"Not right now, Bones." He said softly. "This is supposed to be a relaxing drive, not a stressful drive."

"You're talking through clenched teeth, your body is hunched, your eyes are filled with anger… your hands are squeezing the steering wheel so tightly, that I believe that your skin may actually be fusing to it, and you're leg hasn't stopped moving since we got in the car. If this is supposed to be a relaxing environment, then you are failing miserably." She shot back, her eyes waiting for him to face them, and when they didn't, she could feel her heartbeat pick up its pace.

"Hacker said he's going to get us separated." He said, staring out the window. "According to a text message from Sweets, he's been told to review our competency, and do a series of tests to ensure that we are compatible as a team, as well as stable enough to deal with the everyday stresses of working with murderers on a constant basis." Booth said softly.

"But we do cope well despite working with murderers on a constant basis."

"You had a breakdown, Bones." He whispered.

"A breakdown that was not associated with the dealings of our job."

"But it had to do with me." Booth whispered, sitting in the awkward pause for a good period of time before he heard a gentle sigh beside him.

"Nobody needs to know about why I did it, Booth. That's between you and I. I haven't told anyone, anything."

"Neither have I." He replied honestly.

"Good." She whispered. "That's a very, very good place to start." She said, more than prepared to deal with this situation head on. Temperance Brennan may have lost her cool less than forty eight hours ago, but there was no way in hell that she was going to lose her partner.


	20. But There Was A Storm Threatening

Booth drove for nearly three hours before they made their way back into the city and toward some familiar places. When he pulled into the parking lot of the diner, she looked to him and gave him a near pitiful glance. "What?" He asked innocently, his eyes pleading as she shook her head.

"You're not carrying me into the diner, Booth." She replied softly. "My apartment… your apartment… I can handle that, but not the diner." She said, watching the slow, charming smile rise on his lips, and then as it became a more serious expression as he glanced to the diner and back at her.

"I wouldn't do that to you, Bones." He said seriously, grabbing the handle of the door, he leaned over and moved his lips toward her ear, his breath tickling her ear as she felt his breath skate across her skin. "I will, however… be getting you a piece of pie." He said as he climbed out of the car and smiled at her.

"Booth! You know I don't like my fruit cooked!" She exclaimed as the door closed on her exclamation, and he just smiled as he turned and headed into the diner. "Besides…" She mumbled to herself. "We haven't even had dinner yet…" She sighed, watching him disappear into the diner, her eyes following his shadow as he moved to the counter and leaned just a bit over it as he spoke to someone behind the counter.

She was leaning back in her seat when she heard a vibrating sound coming from the center console. She glanced toward the diner, and opened the center, spying Booth's phone nestled within the sea of coffee cup tabs that had found their way into its depths. She pulled the phone out, seeing the name 'Hack' on the front, her brow furrowed, and flipped it open, knowing that she probably shouldn't. "Agent Booth's phone." She said, warily into the line.

"Temperance!" A voice exclaimed as she frowned at it.

"Andrew." She said, her voice was a bit stern, and she wasn't sure what to say. "Booth isn't here right now."

"Well, at least I get to talk to you, right? He wouldn't let me talk to you."

"I don't want to talk to you right now, Andrew."

"Tell me what happened? Are you okay? Is he being inappropriate? I can have him reprimanded if he's being inappropriate." He said, his voice eager and a bit too excitable, it was making her uncomfortable.

"Do you want me to give a message to Booth? I can't talk."

"Sure you can, you're just sitting in the car right now… of course you can talk." His voice switched a little, maybe it was the connection, or the way he said it. Perhaps it was the fact that he knew where she was. She felt the hair on the back of her neck stand on end.

"Andrew… where are you?"

"The more important thing is, that I know where you are." He said with a bit of a sneering voice.

Brennan looked out the window, looked around the parking lot, and back to the building when she saw Booth paying for the pie. "Are you following us? Where are you?"

"Don't worry, Temperance… you aren't going to be able to see me watching you, but I'm there… I'm just trying to keep you safe, you know? It's important that you stay safe."

"Andrew… stop, you promised that you wouldn't take this out on Booth, and… and now you're attempting to terrorize me, and this isn't fair."

"Isn't fair? It isn't fair? What isn't fair is that I brought you to dinner, and you left me alone at a table for two. You left me alone, and you took off, making a big scene. You embarrassed me, Temperance. You embarrassed me… and he found you, and he is keeping you away from the outside world, away from me. That's what isn't fair. Who the hell does he think he is?" Andrew growled angrily.

"Andrew, if you don't stop…"

"If I don't stop… what? You'll tell Booth? Go ahead, Temperance, tell Booth… tell him I am terrorizing you… see what I do to him then. Besides… I promised you I wouldn't do anything to jeopardize his job, didn't I? I never said I wouldn't hurt him… I keep my promises, for the most part, he can keep his job… I never said I wouldn't hurt him. However, the one thing I have going for me, is that you can't run." He said, hanging up the phone, Brennan stared at the phone in her hand, she looked up to see Booth turning around from the counter and heading toward the car. Quickly, she swung open the center console and tossed the phone inside, slamming the top down on the offending object.

Booth walked out of the diner and looked in the truck. He could see that Brennan's eyes were wide, her face pale, and her mouth open just a little. He opened the door and looked at her, giving her a confused glance. "Are you alright, Bones? You look like you've seen a ghost."

She watched him for a moment, trying to find the words to speak, or an action, anything, her jaw opening and closing as she stared at him. "I…"

"Bones?"

"You um… you know there isn't any such thing as ghosts, Booth." She said, turning her head to look out the window suddenly, she left the conversation at that, though from the look on her face, the conversation between the two of them was far from over, not if he had anything to say about it.


	21. So He Sought Shelter For Them Both

**Ok Folks, i know what you're thinking... 'OH! SHE UPDATED'... yes, i know i updated... i know you're happy... (or not happy...) Please enjoy, and know... it's been almost a year since the last update, so ya'll may have to read it over again... and it won't be another year until the next one. Enjoy! :)**

* * *

There was a quiet tension in the car now, since he had gotten in and seen the pale look on Brennan's face, he wanted to get her to talk, but knew if he pressed her, she wouldn't. "Do you still want to go to your apartment?" He asked.

"Not now." She said quickly. "I'll have Angela get me some things." She said. "We can go back to your place."

"Bones, are you sure you're alright? You seemed really rattled when I got into the car."

"I'm just thinking about work, all of the work I'm going to miss this week, that's all."

He noticed that she didn't keep eye contact with him, and that fact alone was enough for him to know that she wasn't telling him everything. "Bones, you're keeping something from me."

"No." She said to the window, and not to him, hoping he would just simply drop it, she knew for a fact that he wouldn't.

"What happened?"

"Andrew." She whispered, turning her head to face him. "He called your phone while you were in the diner."

"You answered?"

"I knew it was ringing, and since you and I typically deal with the same people, I assumed that I'd be able to take a message."

Booth's hands strangled the steering wheel. "What did he say?" He asked.

"He was watching us." She whispered. She didn't want to continue, but knew that if she didn't, then this could never end. "He said that he won't take your job, but he will hurt you. He said that it helped that I couldn't run." She replied, watching him become angrier and angrier with each pause in her sentence. She wanted to reach out to him, she wanted him to calm down, but she had wound him tightly, and she was afraid that he'd snap if she pushed any more.

"He was watching us." Booth whispered, suddenly slamming on the gas, he screeched the tires as he turned the car in a complete 180 degree turn. He pushed his hand into the siren and sent it blaring as he sped through the streets of Washington, watching the other cars, the signals, as he drove quickly through the city.

"Booth, where are you going?" She asked.

"He wants to follow us? He wants to watch us? I'm going to give him something to watch." Booth said as he slammed his foot on the gas, speeding over the bridge toward the interstate, he pushed the SUV harder.

"Booth, you're making me nervous."

"Don't be nervous, Bones." He said, reaching across the console. "We're going somewhere that he won't be able to find us."

"Where?"

"The only place I know of with twenty four hour security, six watch dogs, enough firepower for a small army, and a place for both of us to sleep."

"Where?" She asked, looking out of the window, she looked back to Booth. He released her hand after a moment. He opened the center console and pulled out his phone. He glanced at the last incoming call and glared, dialing a number he glanced to her, and waited for someone to answer.

"Hodgins?" Booth said, catching Brennan's eyes widening in surprise. "Are you home? Bones and I are on our way for a visit." He said, his voice sounding stern. "Short answer, no." He said, clearing his throat. "We'll explain when we get there. She's better." Booth replied, his eyes catching Brennan's. "I'm sure she'll be more than happy to see her. Thanks, man." Booth said, snapping the phone closed, he tossed it onto the dash board. "He gave me the code for the side gate."

"Booth." She whispered. "What are we going to do?"

"You…" He said as he took her hand once again. "You're going to enjoy the comfort and safety of Hodgins' estate. First thing tomorrow morning, I'm going hunting." He said, catching her eye.

"You're going to kill Andrew?" She whispered.

"No." Booth replied. "Though I'm tempted to shoot him with a tranquilizer and tag his ear… maybe brand his ass with a hot poker for terrorizing us." Booth replied without thinking. "Sorry, just… thinking out loud." He said, catching a slight smile on her lips. "I love you, Temperance. I'm going to protect you."

"I know you will, Booth." She whispered. "You always do."

* * *

Booth pulled up to the gate and punched in the code to enter. He pulled down the driveway, watching the gate close behind him as they slowly approached the main house. "Angela is here." Booth said, watching as Brennan nodded, her eyes still looking out the window warily. "We're safe now, Bones."

"I don't like feeling like a damsel in distress." She said, nearly catching herself before she finished the sentence, she felt the irony, and didn't wish to express it. His silent response was a strong indicator that he too was not going to push on her statement.

"You're not in distress."

"Not anymore." He replied. "And if I can help it, never again." He said, pulling the car to a slow stop in the front of the house, he put it in park and squeezed her hand. He pulled her hand to his lips and dropped a tender kiss atop it.

"Booth." She whispered, the blush on her cheeks was visible, even as the sky dipped low in the sky. "I think the front door opened." She said softly, his body leaning closer to her. "Booth, Angela and Hodgins…"

"What?" He asked, his lips just a whisper from hers.

"They're going to…"

"They're going to find out anyway." He finished her sentence, finally allowing his lips to devour hers, as her hands clung to him tightly, and he silently vowed to protect her from everything and anything that threatened who they were together. He pulled from the kiss first, keeping contact with her eyes. "I love you, Temperance."

"I love you." She said back.

They were both brought to reality with the gentle rapping on the window, and Booth sat up to see Hodgins' beaming face on the other side of the glass. "We'll be right in, Hodgins… geez." Booth said, waving to Angela, as she waved from the porch, a small smile on her lips. "We should probably go in now."

"Uh huh." She said, watching him for a moment, he seemed to be lost in thought.

"Oh… oh… I mean… stay right there." He said, climbing from the car, he rushed around, hearing her gentle laugh, as he rounded to her door, to help carry her into the house, to keep her off her injured feet.


	22. Used Time And Patience To His Advantage

Booth stepped off the elevator on the top floor of the J. Edgar Hoover building, his feet hitting the ground purposefully. Dressed in his typical work attire, his shoulders were high, his tie was tight against his throat, and his hands were pulsing fists. He entered the outer office of Assistant Director Andrew Hacker, his eyes settling darkly on the secretary.

"Agent Booth." She sounded surprised, and slightly nervous. "Andrew isn't in at this time."

"Then I'll wait." Booth replied, turning around, he sat in the uncomfortable chairs beside the office door, and he stared at the wall in front of him.

"Agent Booth, I don't know when he'll be in this morning." She spoke with a small waver in her voice, and when Booth's dark eyes met hers, she couldn't find her voice.

"Then I will wait for him." Booth replied.

"Agent Booth."

"I will wait for him." He said sternly, as he stared at the name plate on the wooden door in front of him, the name burning into his mind, the same way Brennan's words the night before had burned into his mind.

* * *

_Brennan sat in one of Hodgins' guest bedrooms, her eyes focused on the flowered wallpaper across the room. The room smelled of flowers, the linens of fresh washed cloth, and the bed was soft and comfortable. Unfortunately, no sleep would come, and her mind was riddled with the memory of Andrew's voice on the phone. He had sounded almost foreign, frightening, threatening, and purposeful. Logically, she knew that she was safe behind the walls of Hodgins' home, but fear gripped her each time she closed her eyes._

_She heard the gentle click of a door in the hallway, and her head snapped in the direction of her own door, her heart beating wildly in her chest, though she knew that it could only be one person at this late hour. When she saw him slip inside, her heart pounded for a different reason, and her tongue slid over her lower lip. "Booth?" She whispered. He closed her door quietly and stepped toward her bed._

_"Are you alright?" He whispered, sitting on the edge of the bed, he could see the fear in her eyes. "You're safe here, Bones."_

_"I know." She swallowed hard and tried to remain calm. "I… am more afraid of what you're going to do." She whispered._

_"Me?" He asked, allowing a chuckle to escape his lips. "You have nothing to worry about with me. I am not a stupid man."_

_"I know." She paused, with her eyes resting on his for several moments, he could see that she had questions._

_"What is it, Bones?"_

_"You and my father have a lot in common." She whispered, immediately noting the change in his posture. "You have both proven that you will do anything to protect me, Booth." He physically relaxed at those words, mostly because they were the truth. "You have killed to protect me before, but you would never do so in cold blood." She said, reaching her hand out to touch his lip, she could still see the small cut from when Andrew punched him that afternoon. "I find that I'd like to hurt him myself for hurting you."_

_"This may have started with violence, but violence isn't going to fix it." He whispered against her probing fingers. He lifted his hand to hers, and grasped it delicately, dropping kiss after kiss on her skin. He watched her demure smile appear and kissed the bend of her wrist. "I'm just going to go to his office, and have a conversation."_

_"A conversation?" Her eyebrow lifted slowly and she seemed genuinely surprised by this decision._

_"Yes." He smiled, tipping his head, he gave her an incredulous look. "I've been known to converse on occasion. I'm not a complete Neanderthal."_

_She smiled at his comment, he knew the way to her heart, and that was the only assurance she needed. "You kissed me." She whispered._

_"I did?" He asked, teasing her a little, he felt her hand move to his arm, sliding slowly down his bicep, she let her thumb settle in the crook of his elbow. "You are very special to me, and I don't want you to be afraid of showing your feelings simply because of one ridiculous person out there that thinks that they can control you."_

_"Do you want to control me?"_

_"I want to protect you." He whispered. "I will protect you." Booth watched her eyes drop to his lips and back to his eyes again. "I should probably get back to my room." He whispered._

_"Do you think that is wise?" She asked, her voice caught in her throat, she let her thumb squeeze his arm slightly._

_"Why wouldn't it be? I have to go in tomorrow, if I stay here, I may not get any sleep."_

_"And if you stay all the way across the hall, do you think you'll sleep better, knowing that I'm over here, all alone?"_

_"You make a very, very good point." He said breathily, quite aware that he was moving closer, and closer to her, he watched her eyes._

_"I wouldn't want to be the reason that you can't get any sleep tonight," she paused. "Would I?"_

_"What would Hodgins say if he knew that I stayed here, and not my own room?"_

_"I think that he has enough respect for both of us to understand that we're consenting adults. I think that he's already aware that we're in a relationship, together."_

_"Hm…?" He whispered, lifting his eyebrows, she smiled coyly at him._

_"I'm lying here in pain, and you're going to make me ask?" She asked, tipping her head as if she were going to kiss him, she could feel his body tense in reaction._

_"You're sitting up." He replied._

_Her eyes narrowed at his response, and she moved toward him, that half inch space closed with their lips touching, and for a second she thought he'd pull back. She was quite pleased with herself when he didn't. She could hear a throaty groan deep in his throat, and when her fingers touched his neck, he sucked in a deep, refreshing breath that was made of all her. His hand moved to her side, and he gently pulled her down onto the bed, supporting himself with his arms as he kissed her. "Are you afraid?" He whispered._

_"Not anymore."_

_"Do you trust me?" He whispered as he kissed her neck, feeling her nails digging into his chest with desire._

_"Yes." She whimpered against his skin, feeling him twisting his body slightly, he rested on his side and pulled her into him. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly. "Booth?"_

_"Hm…?" He said, whispering into her hair, he waited for her to reply, breathing in every bit of her he could._

_"If they split us up professionally…"_

_"They won't." He said, pulling away from her slightly, he looked her in the eyes. "They won't separate us."_

_"But if they do, Booth," she paused. "If they do separate us, we can still be together. I wouldn't worry about us, just about justice. We're linked in ways that are not related to our careers. We will find a way, and sometimes I think it might be easier if we didn't work together." She said, watching his brow furrow as she spoke. She could tell that he didn't like what he was hearing. "I'm not saying that you shouldn't fight for us to work together, Booth. I want to work with you, I never said I wanted things to be easy."_

_"Do we ever take the easy way, Bones?"_

_"No." She smiled, watching his expression become softer at her words._

_"We're not about to start now. I want everything with you, Bones, everything."_

_"I love you." She said, muffling his response with a kiss, he rolled her on top of him, weighing him down, and reminded themselves exactly what they were fighting for._

* * *

Booth remained in the chair in the waiting room for what could have been moments, or hours. His eyes remained focused straight ahead, ignoring the phone calls and other people entering and exiting the office. He was waiting on one person, and one person alone.

Patience was something that he had a lot of.

Time was something that he was willing to sacrifice.

Patience was something he was trained to have.

Time was something he was demanding.

Patience and time.

After nearly four hours of waiting, the door to the office opened, and he could hear the familiar sound of Andrew Hacker's voice.

Booth stood up and moved his focus to the other man, his body straight and strong. He could feel the tie rubbing at his throat with each swallow.

"Agent Booth is here to see you, sir." The secretary said softly, as Andrew turned around to finally acknowledge the man's presence.

The sardonic smile that graced the shorter man's face was enough to make a weaker man want to slap it off, but Booth remained strong.

"I'm sorry, Agent Booth, but you'll have to make an appointment. I'm very busy." He said, walking toward his office, he turned his back on Booth. He was just about to turn to close his door, when he noticed that the imposing man had followed him, and was now standing in his doorway. "You're going to have to go, Agent Booth. I am very busy."

Booth could have mentioned a great many things at that particular moment, but remained silent instead. He kept his stance in the office doorway, and held his ground.

"Agent Booth, if you don't remove your foot from the path of my door, I'll have you removed forcefully."

"We're going to have a word, Hacker." Booth said, stepping into the office, he grabbed the door and slammed it, making the pictures on the wall, and the man whose office they had just entered, rattle in its wake.


	23. And When All Seemed Lost

Andrew Hacker was stunned by the menacing presence of his agent, standing in his office straight as a soldier. There was a dark look in his eyes like nothing that Hacker had ever seen before. He reached for his phone.

"I wouldn't touch that phone." Booth said, his voice booming angrily as Hacker's hand moved back and he stood up as straight as he could, trying to appear taller than he was.

"Are you threatening me, Agent Booth?" Hacker said through narrowed eyes, his hand touching the phone, until he saw Booth reach for his gun. "Wait, I was…"

"Shut up." Booth grunted, pulling the gun from its holster, he stepped forward, pulled the clip out and set them both down on the desk.

"What is this?"

Booth then reached into his jacket pocket, and pulled out his badge. He placed the badge beside the gun, and looked up into Hacker's eyes. "I would like to tender my resignation." Booth replied, his eyes intense and dark as he dared Hacker to say anything further.

There was a slow, steady, self satisfied smirk rising on Hacker's face. "Resignation?" Hacker started to laugh, but choked when Booth took another step forward, looming over the desk.

"You and I obviously have a difference of opinion on a lot of things. You like to play games, and I don't play games, Hacker."

"So you're just going to quit?" He let out a laugh.

"I'm moving on." Booth replied. "I'm moving on, and it is something I should have done a long time ago."

"You're quitting." Hacker laughed.

"You can call it whatever you want. I've handed in my resignation letter to the director, I am handing my gun and badge over to you, and I am going to walk to my office, and remove my belongings, and leave. I am resigning." Booth replied.

"You're bluffing." Hacker said, his eyes narrowing in a challenging glare that paled in comparison to the glower coming from Booth. Suddenly, the intercom rang, and Hacker pushed the button as he continued to stare into Booth's eyes. "Hold my calls." He said, though the fear was obvious in his voice.

"Sir, the director is on the line." The secretary said softly. "He's been trying to get through all morning."

"Put him through." Hacker said, glancing to Booth. Booth's shoulders relaxed slightly as he stood up straight and took a step back, possibly to give Hacker some room to breathe. Hacker picked up the phone. "Sir?" He said into the line, his voice cracking slightly as he watched Booth's eyes narrow challengingly. "Yes, sir." He said, his eyes moving to the badge and gun on the desk. "Yes, he is in here with me right now. I understand. Yes. Yes, sir. I understand." Hacker looked up at Booth, expecting a humored expression, but saw the same hardened expression that had been there moments before. He swallowed hard and turned. "Can't we just force him to stay?" He whispered into the line.

Booth did let a smirk escape at that, but let it disappear before the other man turned.

"Yes, sir. I… I don't… I don't know, sir." Hacker said as he looked up at Booth. "Yes." He said, pushing the speaker phone button. "You're on speaker, sir."

"Booth?" The director barked into the line, his voice deep and angry, Hacker looked up at the agent and back to the phone.

"Yes, sir."

"What the hell is this all about?"

"I am tendering my resignation, sir."

"On account of what?"

"I have served our country in any capacity that I could since I was eighteen years old, sir. I have served it proudly, and I have served it to the best of my ability. I am preparing to move on." Booth stated into the speaker.

"The letter that you submitted has cited particular incidents that I was unaware of."

Hacker looked up at Booth, who allowed the corner of his lip to rise as he glared at the other man. "Yes, sir. They have been properly documented."

"You understand that these incidents are grounds for investigation."

"Yes, sir." Booth replied. "I am willing to comply to an investigation into the allegations of the grievances that I cited in my letter of resignation, sir."

"Is there anything that I can do to change your mind, Agent Booth?" The director asked into the line. "You are one of our finest agents, and you have a commendable respect for the Bureau and what we stand for. It would be a shame to lose you."

Booth cleared his throat and took a deep breath, preparing himself to speak. He eyed Hacker for a moment. "I'd be willing to discuss matters with you privately, sir. Under the circumstances, I think that it would be inadvisable to tend to these matters through the phone." Booth said.

"That's probably a good idea, Agent Booth." The director said with a sigh. "I will reject this resignation until further discussion. Are you available in a half hour, Agent Booth?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good. I will see you then." He said with a grunt, as the phone hung up.

Booth leaned forward and pushed the 'off' button on Hacker's phone, and looked up at the other man with a deep intensity in his eyes. He lifted his badge from the desk, and slipped it into his pocket, not moving his eyes from Hacker's.

"What did the letter say?" Hacker asked.

"That's for me to know, and you to find out." He said, lifting his gun and the cartridge from the desk. "And just so you know." He said, slamming the cartridge into the gun, he watched Hacker jump. "This isn't the only gun I am licensed to carry. I am what you might call… and enthusiast." He said, holstering his gun. "Also… Bones?" He said, taking a step back. "She's one hell of a shot, Hacker… and she doesn't aim for the knees." He said, turning his back on the other man, he walked toward the door.

"Booth, what did you put in that letter?"

Booth turned around and smiled. "Who is watching who now?" Booth asked, lifting his eyebrows, he whistled and turned, walking out the door he let it slam behind him, his whistle drifting through the door like a taunt, as he left the outer office.

**The end**

(stay tuned for the Epilogue)

**I would like to take a moment to thank everyone who has read this fic... and caught up with it... after such a long hiatus... i'd like to thank EVERYONE... my mom, my dad, my three dogs, my husband, my readers, my pet elephant Syd. I couldn't have written this without you. So... thanks... **


	24. Everything Came Together

**This epilogue is for all of those people out there that 'knew' i could finish this fic... Thnx4thesupport!**

* * *

She sat across from a man with kind eyes, a tender smile, and whose words were filled with a tone of complete and utter affection for her. His charm was remarkably real, and his gaze never left her face. He reached across the table for her hands, and she let her fingertips fall naturally into his, his thumbs rolling over her skin, his fingers gently squeezing her skin in his grasp. She could see in his eyes that he wanted to be with her completely instead of being in that restaurant, he wanted hold all of her the way that he was holding her hand right now.

Her stomach churned in excitement, and her smile was shy, and a bit mysterious, as she moved closer to him across the table. She thought of taking his hand and insisting they run, but stood fast knowing that they couldn't leave just yet. Their connection was far too strong to allow them just a simple relationship that never left the bedroom. They had waited far too long for their relationship to be like that, and to rush it would shatter their delicate balance.

Her eyes flashed to the raindrops slamming into the windows outside, the soft wind blowing against the trees just outside the window. The night may have seemed miserable, but only in the weather, for the smile on her face seemed to brighten everything, and shine a happy light on both people sitting at the table. Her eyes for now were on the window, and his voice floated across the table, taking her a moment to regain her attention, her eyes met his. His eyes seemed to hold concern until she smiled across the table at him.

"Thought I lost you there for a second." He said, smiling at her, she let out a small laugh.

"I'm afraid you won't be able to get rid of me that easily." Her eyes sparkled with the smile she offered him.

"I'm sorry if my story wasn't entertaining enough for you." He said, eliciting a playful glare that made her laugh.

"I'm sorry." She said, looking back to the rain. "I'm just thinking of so many things right now. The lab, this whole new situation between us, our relationship. It's new, and it's different, and—"

"It's exciting." He said, touching her hands across the table, there was no resistance. She felt his fingers wrap solidly around her hand, and her focus was solely on those adoring eyes.

"Yes." She replied. "It is exciting."

"However, I think with our new work arrangement…"

"Temperance Brennan, are you breaking up with me?" He asked, pretending to sound offended, and when she laughed, his smile brightened, and he leaned forward.

"No." She cleared her throat. "Never."

"So we're talking absolutes, are we?"

"I can do that with you." She replied. "You allow me to suspend my beliefs, to believe in other things, to look at things differently. I think it is very possible that absolutes exist for a reason."

His hand covered hers. "I love you."

"I love you." She whispered back, and her eyes caught something that he was hiding in his, something that it appeared he wanted to share, but was holding back. "What is it?" She asked. "What do you want to tell me?"

His eyes narrowed playfully. "Since Hacker's arrest," Booth began. "I've been acting Assistant Director."

"That is correct. You do your job very well. You're well respected and admired by your colleagues."

"They offered it to me full time, Bones." He replied. His words were quick and sharp, and he was unsure of her reaction, but knew that he had to say it.

Her eyes moved to the table, and she pulled her hand from his. It was obvious that she was composing herself, but she didn't seem upset. "You are going to take it, correct?" She asked, looking up to him, she tipped her head.

"Bones, I… I want it. It would offer me regular hours, and a safer environment, but that means that…"

"That means that Parker and I will have you around for a lot longer than we thought." She said, using now as her own turn to reach across the table and touch his hand. "We've been together for a very long time, and I know that you deserve this. It's better pay, it's stable… and it's still doing what you want."

"It's a desk jockey job. Look at Hacker, Bones. What did he do other than boss people around and act like a total moron?"

"It appears he also enjoyed the company of hookers, and was involved in an evidence tampering ring." She said seriously, lifting an eyebrow.

"Always literal." He said, narrowing his eyes playfully, his fingers danced under her hand.

"Booth," she said, leaning forward slightly. "You're a good man. You're a hard worker, a wonderful father, and an incredibly good friend. This is your life, your career, this is—"

"This is our life, Bones. This is our career. Solving murders is what we do, and we do it damn well. We do it together."

"You don't think that you can make this position whatever you want it to be?"

"I can't go out into the field, Bones. I'll be swamped in paperwork. I still have to clean up the messes that Hacker made. You'll be stuck with a new partner, and I won't have anyone."

Brennan smiled slyly. "You'll have a secretary, perhaps you'll form a trust filled bond with her. You two can run off and solve crimes together on the side."

"Very funny, Bones." He said, letting the smile that he was hiding escape. He let out a thought filled sigh and sat back in his chair, staring out the window at the falling rain. His eyes focused on the drops of rain slithering down the glass. He suddenly leaned across to his date, his partner, his lover, and smiled into her eyes. "Let's get out of here."

"Out of here? But we just ordered."

"I know, let's just… pay the check and go home. We can watch a movie, order in. I'm tired of being in a suit. I just want to relax with you. I just want to be, with you."

She thought for only a moment before she stood up, and watched his eyes brighten as she held out her hand to him. "Let's go then."

Booth smiled and pulled out his wallet, dropping enough money on the table to cover both of their meals and their wine. He took her hand and squeezed it, standing up, he dropped a kiss on her lips. "Let's get out of here." He breathed into her ear, he turned and led her toward the door of the restaurant. Without thought or consequence, they pushed past several people who were moving around a table, and for a split second, she recognized this moment. He turned his eyes onto her at that very moment, and each and every barrier that had ever been placed simply turned to dust.

They glided out into the vestibule, and through the doors without thinking, their emotions were their strength, and suddenly they were pelted with the hard, merciless rain that was pouring from the sky. She held her purse close to her, and felt his arms encircle her as they stood together in the rain. "Well what do we do now?" She said to him, burying her face into his jacket, a laugh on her lips.

"What do you want to do?"

"Diner?" She called, looking down the street toward the familiar lights. "Dessert before dinner." She said, leaning up to kiss his rain soaked face. "You only live once." She said.

"That's right." He said, breathlessly for a moment. "Are you ready?" He asked.

"To run?" She asked.

"Yeah." He said, and with that moment, he did something that even he didn't expect, something irrational, and silly, something surprising and different, something freeing. He leaned down push his arm beneath her legs, he lifted her effortlessly from the ground and cradled her in his arms.

"Booth!" She exclaimed.

"You only live once." He whispered

With her in his arms

In the unrelenting, punishing rain.

Together.

He began to run.

* * *

**The end.**

**If you really want to blow your mind... read the first chapter again after reading this... ;) ha. Thank you for reading...**


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